A Step of Faith
by Lanilen
Summary: A young Shinigami of the Fourth Division finds herself in the Real World, helping with the investigation of an encounter with a strange Hollow in Soul Society. There she meets a rather weird human who can see spirits. OCs inside!
1. Chapter 1

_This isn't going well,_ Hisagi thought. His Zanpakutō described a wide arc after slashing at one of the hollow's arms, but the wound quickly started closing again. _At least I have its attention now._

A casual observer could have accused Hisagi of stating the obvious, had he spoken those thoughts out loud. He had tried attacking the hollow directly with his Zanpakutō, but the hollow's body reacted with an almost plastic quality, deflecting blows and quickly closing wounds. He had tried kidō, and once again it seemed capable of absorbing a great deal of damage, morphing and blobbing like it was some sort of fluid.

_And the bloody mask keeps disappearing inside its body when I try to hit it._

For an instant the hollow stopped and hesitated between targets, and Hisagi shot a quick glance across the battlefield. Kita was muttering the incantation, while the rest of his squad was laying on the ground at a safe distance. The Fourth Division girl was kneeling on the ground, her hand raised at a spot of kidō light above them; the light flickered considerably and she was breathing heavily.

_We may have to pull back soon if she can't..._

"March on to the south!"

_There! Come on Kita, don't fail me, we have to time this..._

Hisagi threw Kazeshini once again, and in the same movement raised his right hand, palm open, pointing at the hollow.

"Hadō twenty-seven..." Hisagi's voice boomed.

"Hadō thirty-one..." Kita's voice echoed.

"Frozen Spear!"

"Red Fire Cannon!"

Their spells were off only by a fraction of a second, yet both held their breaths in perfect unison. Their aim was, nonetheless, impeccable, and Hisagi's kidō hit one of the six arms just before Kita's own did, and before the hollow had time to retract it. An ice-shattering explosion ensued, and the arm fell to the ground amidst a shower of frozen debris. Hisagi easily dodged an angrily thrown punch from the hollow.

"Yes! Kita! Once mo..."

Hisagi's eyes went wide as he turned to his subordinate. He was just standing there on the field, several spears coming from the hollow's chest piercing his large frame. It was the Fourth Division girl who reacted first, appearing next to Kita in a flash of shunpo. She looked so small next to the large man it seemed as if he'd crush her if he fell on her.

"Seree!"

She cut the hollow's fleshy spears with a wide slash of her Zanpakutō, and without answer carried the wounded man away with a single shunpo.

"Why damn you... Hadō twenty-seven, Frozen Spear!"

The girl landed next to the rest of the wounded squad, struggling under the weight of the large man. She quickly put him down on the ground.

"Hayashi-san! Hayashi-san! Can you hear me? Please hang on! Just make fun of my hair again, please!"

She tried to stop the bleeding with the few bandages she had remaining, but all she could manage was to just slow it down. She sharply rose her head with the crashing of Hisagi's kidō. His rate of fire had increased, skipping incantations on everything.

_Still not working._

"Colour girl..."

Seree almost jumped up in surprise, suppressing a scream. Kita had grabbed her right hand, which was resting on the hilt of her sword.

"Hayashi-san! Please hang in there, I'll..."

"You keep... reaching... your Zanpakutō..." Kita struggled to control his bloody cough. "You have more tricks than your coloured hair...don't you?... Go help... the Lieutenant."

Seree did not answer. Her eyes, wide open, were fixated on the fight, and her hand trembled as it grasped the hilt of the sword.

"Go."

"But..."

"**GO!**"

Kita's suddenly loud voice snapped Seree into action. Her heart was racing, and its racing was all she could hear as her shunpo sped her into battle. All the recent memories of the mission clashed in her head in an attempt to come to surface, and the more she told herself not to think about them, the harder they competed for her attention.

_Stop thinking. Stop thinking. You're going to get killed if you don't stop thinking..._


	2. Chapter 2

"Aaah? What's with the crazy hair?"

"Kita, that's enough."

"Yeah, yeah, sure Lieutenant." Kita smirked as he turned away from the girl.

She fruitlessly covered her multicoloured hair with both hands and bowed.

"My... My name is Seree, it's... it's a pleasure to meet you!"

"We're leaving." Hisagi ordered, hardly sparing her a second glance.

The five men walked out of the barracks, and Seree hesitated. She turned to Captain Unohana, with her hands still on her head.

"Captain..."

"Don't worry, just follow Lieutenant Hisagi's orders."

"But..."

"Our duties include supporting other divisions in the field, Seree. I know this is your first mission, first of many I hope, but I'm sure you will do fine."

Unohana smiled, a warm smile that always made Seree feel, for lack of a better word, safe. She had heard how scary the Captain could be when angry, but she had never seen it, and simply could not believe it.

_I'm glad I moved to the Fourth Division._

With the reassurance of that thought, she nodded and sped away after the squad. It took considerable effort to catch up with their shunpo, and by the time she had done so they had left Seireitei far behind, and were at the outskirts of Rukongai.

"Don't fall behind, colour girl!" Kita called mockingly.

"Yes!" She answered without hesitation.

The large man's face showed surprise for an instant, but it quickly disappeared under an amused smirk. Almost immediately, the whole group sped up; when they finally stopped, Seree tried to catch her breath, bent down with her hands on her knees and breathing heavily.

"This is where the 12th division lost contact. Be careful and stay together."

"Yes sir!" The men answered in unison.

"We will..."

Hisagi stopped talking and turned his head sharply. After a few moments concentrating, he glanced at the rest of the Shinigami and noticed that only the girl was looking in the same direction.

"Fourth division girl..."

"Yes sir! I... My name is Seree, Miy..."

"Did you feel that?"

"Eh... Yes, I think... I..."

"What was it?" He interrupted.

"A hollow! Uh... No... Wait, yes... I'm... I'm sorry Lieutenant, I have only seen hollow in training, I can't tell if it's really a..."

Seree stopped when she noticed Hisagi was not listening anymore. His gaze was lost in the distance, and his brow was furrowed.

"Get ready everyone, we are going in. Keep your distance until I order a full all out attack, there is something strange here."

"Yes sir!"

"Seree."

"Sir!"

Hisagi gave her a speculative look Seree thought would never end.

"Stay at your best shunpo distance and pull out any wounded. Warn us if you feel any other strange reiatsu at any moment. You're our backup."

"Yes sir."

There was some muttering, but Hisagi cut it short with a quick look.

"Let's go!"

_Let's go. Just think of that... let's go._


	3. Chapter 3

Seree slashed the hollow's closed fist as it tried to punch Hisagi. It was a shallow cut, and hardly managed to stay the punch itself.

_That felt so hard... I thought it would be softer, Hisagi-san's Zanpakutō is amazing!_

"You fool! What are you doing?" Hisagi shouted.

Seree ignored him. She instead raised her sword, the blade held vertical just inches away from her face.

"Winter, Summer, bloom unabashed..."

The Zanpakutō glowed white, and a red flash ran from the hilt to the tip as Seree slashed downwards.

"Yaezakura!"

"That's..." Hisagi looked at the relased Zanpakutō; the air around the edge warped and danced, while a thin smoke rose from the back of the blade. "A fire-based Zanpakutō. Dammit girl..." He muttered unhappily, before raising his voice. "Seree! Get ready! Hadō twenty-seven..."

The hollow attacked Seree with the same fist she had wounded but she sidestepped it, presenting the back of her blade. The impact dragged her away a few feet, then the attack stopped suddenly, as frost spread from the point of impact all the way to the elbow of the hollow's arm.

It shattered in a thousand pieces when Seree spun around and hit it with the fiery edge of her blade. All sound had gone dull and distant, she could hear nothing and time seemed to slow down as the pieces fell around her.

"Move!" Hisagi shouted again.

It took Seree a few moments to recognize what was happening. Among the flying frozen debris was something she didn't recognize at first.

_A chain?_

Her eyes went wide and she stepped aside just in time for several more of the hollow's spears to pass whistling by her head. Hisagi cut through them again with Kazeshini, and landed next to Seree.

"Don't just stand there after attacking, that thing is fast!"

"Yes!"

Her voice trembled as she answered, there was a constriction around her throat she had trouble speaking past. They had a small respite, as the hollow had stepped back and seemed to be gauging the opposition, its red eyes shining malevolently behind the mask.

"Okay, listen up. We need to get the mask, and for that we need to make an opening. Concentrate on protecting yourself first, I'll use opposite attacks, got it?"

"Y... Yes."

"Here it comes, get ready. We're committed now."

"Co..."

"Go!"

Once again, the sharp order snapped Seree to attention. Her arms trembled while grasping the hilt of her Zanpakutō, but she held her guard firm. The hollow attacked again, Hisagi stepped to the left while Seree did so to the right.

"Bakudō sixty-two, Hundred Steps Fence!"

The rods rained on the hollow, some bouncing off it but most of them sinking in its malleable flesh, immobilizing all parts of it. It roared as it pulled its limbs back from the grounded rods, stretching and contorting them as they became quickly free. Seree took the chance and jumped in, and just before she cut through, Hisagi used another kidō.

"Hadō twenty-seven, Frozen Spear!"

All the sharp appendages shattered as she cut through them with her sword. The hollow lashed at her with the few remaining ones, and Seree slashed almost wildly with the back of the blade, managing to hit and clump them together as they froze.

"Hadō thirty-one, Red Fire Cannon!"

The shattering explosion almost threw Seree off-balance, and she was engulfed in the blast of hot air, with her hair and clothes whipping around her.

_Move. Move!_

She did a short shunpo to the side and caught a glimpse of a rapidly approaching object, behind the curtain of multicolored hair covering her face. She blocked with the back of her sword, holding the searing edge discomfortingly close to her face. The air felt cold as the hollow's fist started to freeze.

"This... is not... the best way... to do this! Hisagi-san!"

She struggled to keep the fiery blade away from her face, until she heard Hisagi's voice. He was almost shouting, she recognized the final words of the incantation.

"...to the South! Hadō thirty-one, Red Fire Cannon!"

_Oh crap! Full incantation!_

The explosion was even stronger this time, and its roar mixed with the hollow's cry of agony in a deafening cacophony of destruction. Seree had stepped away with shunpo but could not even see where she was landing, much less in which direction she had jumped. She thought she had heard Hisagi shouting at her something about watching or some other, but she lost all sense of direction or even time until she settled on a soft surface she couldn't recognize.

"What's... This feels like... Kidō?" Her eyes opened wide with sudden understanding. "A Suspending Star?"

"Oi! Are you okay girl?"

"I... Ugh... That hurts."

"You jumped right in front of the hollow, what were you thinking?"

"I wasn't. Ouch..." Seree slid down the smooth surface of the Star, and landed on her feet.

"It's coming."

"Whaaaa? It's still alive?"

She hardly had time to raise her guard again. The hollow did look worse for wear, and only had three functional arms left, the two on the right side and one on the left had been either cut or severely damaged.

"Anything you can do if I give you an opening?"

"Lieutenant..." She winced in pain as she took a deep breath in.

"You're in no condition to drag this on. I'll make an opening; you go for the mask, or freeze the body so that it can't hide it and I'll hit the mask myself, whatever you have a chance of doing. Got it?"

"Yes."

"You'll have to make the decision fast once you attack. Don't hesitate!"

Hisagi jumped into the air and started spinning one of Kazeshini's blades from the chain. His attack flew past the hollow, barely scratching it. His expression didn't change, he simply held the chain with his right hand and spun the second blade, throwing it to the side instead.

_What is he doing?_

Her answer came when Hisagi pulled at the chain with both hands. On the pullback, each side of the chain passed around a tree as a pivot, while the blades wrapped the ends of the chain around two arms of the hollow. He pulled hard and for an instant, the hollow's arms spread wide, leaving it completely open.

"Go!"

The chains started slipping away as the flesh of the hollow twisted and contorted, but it couldn't free itself fast enough from Kazeshini's strong grip. The only free arm tried to swat at Seree, she stepped forward decisively and with the impulse threw her Zanpakutō with all her strength at the Hollow, to immediately disappear in a blur of shunpo. It flew true and embedded itself in its throat, edge down, slowly freezing its head and mask. She realized she was screaming as she stepped right under the hollow's chin and jumped up with all her strength, to grab her sword and with the impulse, turn it and slash at the mask.

She couldn't quite tell when she had started to scream.

"Hadō thirty-one, Red Fire Cannon!"

Her cut had been too shallow, but Hisagi followed immediately with his kidō, then threw Kazeshini to finish the job. She saw all this from above, replaying in her mind almost in slow motion as her adrenalin rush crashed. She fell on the crumbling hollow's body as it dissolved into spirit particles. Her breathing was heavy and forced through a constriction on her throat, while her face had still not lost her expression of fear.

"Seree, are you..."

She reacted instinctively when Hisagi put his hand on her shoulder. She spun around trying to slice at him with her Zanpakutō, but instead found herself on the ground face down, with Hisagi holding her wrist and shoulder in a powerful grip.

"It's me! Calm down girl, it's over."

"L... Lieutenant..."

"Are you okay now?"

"Yes! Sorry, sorry! I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, come on." Hisagi mollified her as he released his armlock.

They both suddenly stopped when they felt a pulse of spirit pressure. Seree looked up alarmed and Hisagi turned around, frantically and fruitlessly trying to locate the source. It had been shorter than a heartbeat.

"Did you feel that?"

No answer.

"Seree?"

She did not answer him, instead suddenly started rushing in another direction.

"Hayashi-san! Hayashi-san!"

He was laying on a pool of blood, his eyes had a glassy look and there was a thin trail of dried blood out of the corner of his mouth.

He was smiling.


	4. Chapter 4

The door to Captain Unohana's office opened, and both her and Hisagi turned towards the newcomers.

"You called Captain Unohana? Oooh, Hisagi-kun is here too."

"Captain Kyōraku, Captain Kuchiki." Hisagi stood up and bowed as the captains entered.

"Thank you for coming gentlemen," Unohana said.

"Sure." Kuchiki replied.

"What would you like our help with, Unohana-san?" Kyōraku asked when it became clear Kuchiki was not saying anything else.

"Lieutenant Hisagi just delivered the report of his last mission, and I would like to hear another opinion on it."

"Hm? S'there a problem?" Kyōraku asked.

"There may be..." Unohana answered, gesturing towards two empty chairs by her desk.

The two captains sat down and read the report in silence for a while.

"I see." Kyōraku said, putting down the pile of papers and speaking in a thoughtful voice. "Seems like you had a hard time, Hisagi-kun."

"Ah, yes," Hisagi replied softly.

"This girl, Seree..." Kyōraku looked at Unohana, who simply nodded, and then turned to Hisagi, "would you say she saved the mission?"

"Well... I don't know. I was having a hard time, but it's not like I was completely out of options," Hiisagi looked at Kyōraku, but as the latter said nothing, he continued, "my biggest worry was how to get the rest of the squad to safety. Seree was having a hard time healing all three wounded at once, and then Kita was struck down too."

"Hmmm. But I'm surprised, Captain Unohana," Kyōraku said as he looked at the report again, "this girl can release her Zanpakutō, can use some basic shunpo... How come she's ranked so low?"

"Duties in the Fourth Division are quite different from the rest of the Gotei 13, as you well know," Unohana spoke in a calm tone, "her combat abilities have little weight, and although she's progressing well in here she is still far from a seated position."

"Of course she is," Kuchiki said softly.

"Oh?" Unohana turned to Kuchiki, still speaking calmly, "she was originally in your squad before transferring to my Fourth Division, wasn't she?"

"Yes. She came straight from the Academy; good and well balanced grades. She had the makings of a good seat in my division, if she ever reached that level."

"You mean she is not suited for the Fourth Division?" Unohana asked again, still calmly but with a sudden undertone that sent a chill up Hisahi's spine. Imperceptibly he tried to lean back, away from the Captains, while Kyōraku, who was seated between the two, wanted to do the same but couldn't go anywhere.

"Now, now... ^_^;;" Kyōraku tried to calm them.

"Exactly," Kuchiki said, interrupting him.

"Uh... -_-;;"

"Then perhaps you should not have let her join my squad."

The air was palpably charged by now. Hisagi grabbed the sides of his seat with both hands, bracing for impact.

"It was not my decision," Kuchiki said, without losing his composure, "although I was indeed against it."

"She has been doing quite well here until now," Unohana goaded him.

"I'm sure she has, she is a hard worker and loves to help others, but I was afraid something like this would eventually happen."

Unohana stopped smiling and looked at Kuchiki. The weight on Hisagi's chest suddenly disappeared, and so did Kyōraku's expression of discomfort.

"What do you mean?" She asked, interested.

Kuchiki sighed.

"One does not achieve such balanced results in the Academy without having an affinity for all aspects of the Shinigami way. In a squad with a strong specialization she would be on her own and without proper guidance in other aspects," Kuchiki looked at Hisagi, "how would you rate her combat capabilities, Lieutenant?"

"She seemed to have good control over her Zanpakutō, but... If you put it that way, I would have to agree with you, Captain; she needs a lot of work on basic swordsmanship, not to mention actual field experience. She seems little better than a fresh graduate from the Academy." He appeared thoughtful for a few seconds, "it's unusual for someone who can release her Zanpakutō."

Kuchiki nodded knowingly, without adding a single word.

"Going back to the hollow, Hisagi-kun," Unohana continued after a thoughtful pause, "what would you personally say about her decision to help you with it?"

"It's hard to say, Captain. I..." Hisagi suddenly went quiet, and his eyes widened.

"What is it?"

"It's just... Something's been bothering me. Leaving Kita when he was wounded and coming to help me instead seemed a bit... out of character, if you will. But it just occurred to me, it'd have been very much like Kita to have sent her to help me, if he thought I needed it."

"Oh?" Unohana asked, "she didn't mention anything like that, did she?"

"No, not at all. I just thought of it. But... Well, it was still her decision."

"Hisagi-kun," Kyōraku interjected, "would you have used her abilities earlier if you had known what she had?"

"Maybe..." Hisagi answered after thinking for a while, "it's hard to tell, we had two men down so quickly during the fight that we'd have needed her to heal them right away anyway."

Kyōraku raised his eyebrows, interested, but it was Kuchiki who interrupted.

"Battles are won and lost even before they are fought."

"That sounded like a quote," Kyōrakusaid, smiling.

"Yes."


	5. Chapter 5

Seree was sitting on a comfortable looking sofa inside an office in the Fourth Division barracks.

"Seree-chan?"

The door opened and her Lieutenant, Isane Kotetsu, walked in. Seree didn't answer, and stayed in the same position, curled up on the sofa with her arms wrapping her legs and holding them against her chest, and hiding her face behind her knees.

"Here."

Isane offered Seree a steaming cup. She looked up and, when her eyes met those of the Lieutenant, she quickly looked away.

"It'll make you feel better."

Isane smiled, but Seree didn't look at her. She took the cup without raising her eyes, and sipped tentatively.

"Thank you Lieutenant. It's nice."

She had spoken in such a soft voice that Isane could barely make out what she had said. She sat next to her subordinate.

"It's Sasakibe-san's tea. It's dangerous sometimes, but this batch turned out very good!"

"I..." Seree swallowed and tried to speak again. "I really screwed up. The first mission the Captain gives me and... And... I..."

Seree's voice faltered, and she started trembling all over. Isane grabbed her wrist, and in the process jolted her as if she had been wearing an electrified glove. But the trembling stopped.

"Don't say that."

"But..."

"Just wait for Captain Unohana to come back."

Isane let go of her hand and a very dense silence settled in the room. Seree fidgeted with the cup of tea in her hands, and finally took another sip.

"It's a nice tea..."

"It sure is."

When the door opened again, both Seree and Kotetsu jumped up on their seats, the sliding door's sound had broken the tense silence like a roar of thunder. Seree quickly looked down again, her eyes wide open and with a hint of fear behind them.

"Captain!"

"Isane, please leave us."

"Yes, of course."

Isane gave Seree one last worried look before leaving the room. Unohana walked to the girl and stood in front of her. She did not look up, and flinched when the Captain called her name.

"Seree, please look up."

When Seree finally made eye contact, Unohana's expression melted into soft reassurance, a ghost of a smile that barely managed to calm her down.

"You had a hard time, didn't you?"

"Captain..." She swallowed past a lump in her throat. "I'm... I'm really sorry. I messed up so... And you trusted me, and... Hayashi-san..."

Unohana put a finger on Seree's lips and softly hushed her.

"We have been talking..." She sat down as she talked. "... and we think what happened wasn't your fault."

"But... Captain!"

"Seree, decisions in the battlefield can cost lives. But they can also save them."

"I shouldn't have left Hayashi-san... I should have saved him..."

"Maybe, or maybe Lieutenant Hisagi would have been in serious trouble; but you were only doing what he told you, weren't you?"

Seree's head snapped up and she looked at Unohana, with a mix of surprise and fear in her face. She opened her mouth twice but did not utter a single word.

"So Shūhei was right." Unohana said calmly. "Why didn't you say anything about it?"

"I... I didn't..." Seree looked at her cup of tea again, it had been empty for a while but she kept it tight between her hands. "I didn't want to make excuses."

Unohana sighed.

"Lives are lost in the battlefield, that is a fact; sometimes by the very decisions we make." Unohana's voice had started to sound remote, talking from memories past. She then put her hand on Seree's head. "You did what you thought best, and so did Kayashi-kun when he asked you to help Lieutenant Hisagi."

Seree nodded, but didn't answer.

"If Hisagi-kun had known what your Zanpakutō could do, maybe he would have changed his plan accordingly. If we had known more about the hollow, then the whole plan may have been changed to begin with. 'If' is a dangerous word, Seree, use it to learn and do better, not to look for ways to blame yourself."

"Okay..."

"Now." Unohana patted Seree's head and stood up. "Let's go, Hisagi-kun is going to keep investigating this here in Soul Society, but I have a different mission for you."

"I understand." Seree answered, with a tone of finality in her voice.

"Oh?" Unohana turned to look at the downcast girl. "I don't think you do."

Seree looked up at her Captain.

"Hisagi-kun is going to investigate that odd hollow and the strange reiatsu you both felt after the battle, in the meantime you will go with another team to the real world, in case something similar appears there."

"W... Whaaaaa? The real world?"

"Yes."

"But, I thought our division was banned from going to the real world?"

"Except under special circumstances. Seventh seat Yamada will be there to guide you too, he already has experience with the real world."

Seree opened her mouth to protest, but clammed up in an instant when Unohana's expression changed slightly and sent a chill running up her spine. The image was quickly gone, like a mirage, and she could speak again.

"Yes Captain."

Good answer.


	6. Chapter 6

"We can stay here. The landlady is very nice, she let me stay last time too."

Seree looked at the building towering above her head and shook her head.

"The real world is really strange, Yamada-san."

"Ah. Please don't be so formal..." Hanatarō answered in an embarrassed tone.

"Ooh, Hanatarō-kun, here you are."

A small elderly lady in a simple dark green dress had opened the door. Her face was very wrinkled, and her eyes barely opened. She was smiling.

"Yes! I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble, and with so little notice..." Hanatarō talked in a fast voice, bowing repeatedly.

"That's okay, don't worry about it. Oh? Who's this? Your girlfriend?"

"Aaaah! Nonononono, please don't say such embarrassing things, hahaha!"

He squirmed uncomfortably as he laughed, scratching the back of his head, while Seree's expression went from surprise to amusement.

"I am Miyanaga Seree, I am pleased to make your acquaintance." She said and bowed.

"I am pleased to make your acquaintance." The old lady answered and bowed in return, then turned to Hanatarō. "You have done well, Hanatarō-kun, she's such a polite young lady."

"Ayaaaa, please stop ^_^;;"

The old lady showed them to a small apartment in the top floor, sparsely furnished and with a kitchenette barely good enough to boil a pot of water. While Hanatarō moved about the place, Seree went to look out the window. The view of the town at night was fantastic from the top floor, and just a few blocks away the river flowed in a dark murmur.

"There's so many lights."

"Yes, isn't it amazing? When it gets dark here in the real world, it lights up everywhere in the city. Sometimes I have trouble knowing when it's actually night. Tomorrow..."

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud beeping sound. Seree almost jumped out of her gigai in surprise, then quickly reached inside her right pocket and produced a cellphone.

"Hollow! One... No, two of them. And they're close!"

"Ay ay ay! What are we going to do now, is there anyone else close by?"

"I don't think so. Wait, the hollow are..."

There was a single loud beep, then a small pause, and the repeated beeping started again.

"Now there's only one."

"What happened to the other?"

"I don't know. It's moving... Fast! It's coming here!"

Seree and Hanatarō looked out through the window. A large shadow could be made out in the sky, and it was getting bigger. Still some distance away, it brightened up with a red light.

"Oh no! Yamada-san!"

They made it through the window just instants before the Cero hit the building, making a royal mess of their small apartment and blowing most of it away. Seree grabbed Hanatarō in mid air and gulped, splitting from her gigai. She landed free, while her gigai landed in a sprawling mess of arms and legs with her companion.

"Chappy! Go somewhere safe!"

"Okay, pyon!" Her gigai answered, hopping away at great speed.

"Yamada-san, please try to find help, that's no ordinary hollow!"

"But..."

"Please hurry! I'll keep it busy!"

Seree disappeared in a blur of shunpo, appearing on top of a utility pole. The hollow had flapped its way close enough to be seen under the glow of the city's artificial light. Its mask covered a bird-like face, with a large, wide beak full of teeth, and bat-like wings on the back. It had an additional pair of arms which kept constantly twirling and contorting, as if trying to break free from the body.

_It's the same, it feels the same as the other hollow._

Seree's left hand moved almost by itself and grabbed the scabbard of her Zanpakutō. The clinking noise of the sword rattling inside made her realize what she was doing, and for an instant she froze, with her eyes fixed on the sword. Her hands started trembling.

_I can't do this. There's no way. I can't do this!_

"What was that? An explosion?"

"Look at that! What happened?"

"Someone call 119!"

Seree gasped and looked down. A crowd was starting to form around the building at a barely safe distance, with everyone looking up at the wreck that was the apartment. The old landlady was on the street too, looking up with a dumbfounded expression.

"Run away! It's dangerous here! Everyone run!"

Nobody moved. Nobody could hear her.

_Crap. Crap!_


	7. Chapter 7

"I have to go to the real world, Hayashi-san. But I will return, and I will keep my promise to you."

Seree was kneeling in front of the gravestone, hands held together and speaking in a soft voice with her eyes closed. It had been three days since the funeral had been held. Her silence was interrupted only by some rustling on the grass.

"I'm so sorry..."

"Why?"

She turned around in surprise and saw Hisagi standing right behind her. She had not realized the rustling had been the sound of his steps as he approached.

"Lieutenant!"

He kept walking and stood besides her in front of the gravestone.

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about."

"But..."

"Captain Unohana told me I had guessed correctly... That's just like him, you know. He was a good man."

"I wish I had known him better."

"Ooh, I'm not too sure about that, if you had, he'd have been chasing after your skirt every time he got drunk!"

"Hisagi-san!"

Seree looked up in surprise at Hisagi. His eyes were fixed on the gravestone, but they seemed to be focused on some indeterminate point beyond it. And he was smiling. She turned to the gravestone and smiled too.

"It couldn't have been that bad."

"I suppose not." He raised a bottle of sake and uncorked it, then started pouring it over the stone. "But there was never a dull moment with him around. You'll be going to the real world soon, right?"

"Uh? Oh! Well, only for a little bit. Captain Unohana wants me to be stationed in the real world in case something like this happens there."

"When you come back, do try to drop by the 9th Division, you could train with us if you want."

"Oro?" She looked at Hisagi with a clear expression of surprise.

"I talked with Captain Unohana, it'd be better than you going off and training on your own, don't you think?"

"I don't think it's a good idea..."

Hisagi looked at Seree. She had lowered her gaze and was resting her left hand on the hilt of her sword. The hand was trembling slightly.

"Is that why you didn't come to the funeral?" He sighed. "Seree-chan, don't put so much blame on yourself. We don't. We're not so petty."

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that!"

"I know, I know."

She didn't remove her hand from her sword.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm... I'm sorry Lieutenant. I just keep thinking about the battle. It's been three days, and I still see it every time I close my eyes."

"Are you afraid?"

She nodded, and it took several seconds before she could speak.

"I'm afraid. I'm afraid of what will happen if I draw my sword again. I'm afraid of what could happen if I don't. I'm... just..."

"Those who do not fear the sword they wield do not deserve to wield a sword at all."

Hisagi's voice had taken a soft monotone when he spoke those words. Seree opened her eyes and looked at him in surprise once more.

"Lieutenant?"

Hisagi looked at her, and Seree had the feeling he wasn't just seeing her. He smiled slightly.

"Battle is a terrifying thing. If you are afraid of battle, you can raise your sword to protect others who, too, fear battle. You have gained something priceless for a warrior."

He turned and looked away, towards the horizon.

"That's what I was taught."

"I... I'm not sure I understand..."

"It'll come to you. In time."

Seree reached for her Zanpakutō decisively and drew it. Her face had not lost her expression of fear, and her grip was very firm and stiff, making the blade tremble like a leaf in the breeze. The hollow let out a loud, blood-curling scream, but she didn't budge. With one last lingering look at the crowd below, she raised her guard and pointed at the hollow with her sword.

"I won't let you hurt anyone!"


	8. Chapter 8

The hollow and Seree faced each other for what felt like an eternity to her, until it made the first move.

Which surprised her quite a bit.

"What..."

Her question was interrupted by the the hollow crashing onto the ground. There were some screams by the people on the street, but from their point of view, it simply looked like a tree had fallen down, with little warning and no sign of why it had happened.

Before she could do anything, the Hollow flapped its wings and became airborne again. Its flight was irregular, and could barely keep itself from falling again.

_What's with it? It's almost like it's struggling with its own body, doesn't even know how to use its own wings. But... It's too far anyway, I can't reach up there with my shunpo. I may just have enough time..._

She sheathed her sword and raised her right arm, pointing at the hollow with her index finger. The hollow continued to struggle, and Seree went through the incantation as fast as she could without losing control of the spell.

"Hadō four, Pale Lightning!"

A thin bolt of lightning fired from the tip of her finger, hitting the hollow on the shoulder. It went down with another loud crash and even louder scream.

_It's not hurt, but that's okay, if he gets mad it'll follow me. Now..._

She suddenly stopped when she realized even more people had gathered at a small distance from the hollow, looking curiously at the random crashing on the street which seemed to have come out of nowhere.

"Is everyone in the real world stupid or what? Why are you standing there!"

The hollow stood up once more, and people moved away quickly as it trashed about, shouting something about an earthquake. Soon its eyes meet hers, and the rest of the world went dull in Seree'ssenses. She could only see the hollow.

"That's good. Come at me, leave those people..."

Her face snapped suddenly into an expression of surprise when the hollow opened its mouth and started gathering energy with it, a small ball of a bright red colour. Seree's thoughts raced at a hundredfold pace of anything she had ever experienced.

_Cero! I can dodge it. But it will take everyone else around it._

She blurred away in shunpo, straining her body as she pushed herself faster and faster. She halted right under the hollow's face, instants before it fired away.

"Hadō one, Thrust!"

The spell hit the hollow right in the chin, snapping its head up just as it fired the Cero. It barely grazed the top of the tallest building as it was lost in the sky. Without hesitation, Seree reached for her Zanpakutō, and with a single movement unsheathed it and slashed upwards as she jumped back. She couldn't tell whether she had seen the arm that was trying to hit her before attacking, or had simply reacted by instinct. The cut was shallow, but it drew blood from the hollow's arm.

_Just like the other hollow, no matter what you do, there's another attack coming. I have to get it out of here, there's too many people... The river!_

She sheathed her sword again and ran away, with only a fleeting look back to confirm the hollow had taken flight and was following her. She thought about the oddities of the real world as she ran, the dazzling and constantly changing artificial lights and the strange dwellings the humans used. Her mind seemed to be racing and going through every thought it could. Several times she gained higher ground, always keeping an eye on the movements of the hollow.

_I can barely keep our distance, why? A minute ago it could barely fly._

She was breathing heavily by the time she landed at the riverbank. She slowed down the pace and glanced at the hollow closing on, squinting in the dim light; it was a clear night with half a full moon, but even so it was much darker than between the buildings of the city itself.

"Winter, Summer..."

Her voice was barely a whisper as she unsheathed her Zanpakutō and placed it in front of her face.

"Bloom unabashed..."

The hollow was almost on top by then; folding its wings, it dove directly towards her. She skidded to a stop and turned, with the sudden flash of her blade illuminating her face. The hollow let out a warcry and opened its wings, not managing to stop its descent. Seree jumped towards it.

"Yaezakura!"

They flew towards each other at an extremely high speed. Seree had closed the distance between them so fast that it barely managed to throw a single punch before they collided. Half of its fist froze solid as Seree used her sword as leverage to spin and land a solid kick on the hollow's left side ribs. With that same impact she used the footing to jump away, slashing with the searing edge across the membranous left wing as she got out of reach.

It would have been a perfect triple combo if she had had enough energy to land on her feet. Both crashed down on the riverbank and, as she bounced away, she could only be grateful for the soft and thick grass and the sandy soil. She panted heavily in big mouthfuls as she struggled to stand up.

"I hope... Yamada-san finds help..."

She looked at the hollow, which had turned around and was standing on all fours facing her. It spread its wings once more, preparing to take flight.

"What the..."

She shouted in surprise when the hollow launched itself towards her, propelled by hands and legs, and a powerful flap of its wings. Even with one of them being ripped, and one hand being frozen, it launched at an astonishing speed, crashing into the shinigami and holding her down with its huge remaining hand.

It happened in slow motion in her mind. It was a familiar feeling, just like the time when she had launched her final attack on the hollow in Soul Society. It was the feeling of desperation. She had lost her grip on her Zanpakutō and the screaming mouth of the hollow was approaching her fast.

_Do something. Do something! Anything!_

She raised her right arm and pointed at the hollow with her open palm. Her voice came before she consciously realized what she was saying, while her reiatsu flowed in a mad dash towards her hand.

"Hadō thirty-one, Red Fire Ca...!"

She couldn't finish the incantation before the spell was released.

_Oh no!_

In just that instant, some of the memories of her time at the academy flashed through her mind. She had seen others fail to properly cast offensive spells there, with the expected results when reiatsu goes out of control. The voice of her instructor became extremely vivid in her memory.

"Always, _always_, keep your reiatsu under control. Channelling more power will never allow you to control an offensive spell better than less power, no matter how tempting. Use the minimum reiatsu you can, and train up from there to make sure you don't lose control."

_I wasn't even thinking, I don't even know how much I put into..._

The explosion engulfed both of them.


	9. Chapter 9

As the dust settled, the results of the kidō explosion could be made under the dim light. A circle had been burned on the ground around the combatants, and Seree was laying on the ground coughing. The right sleeve of her shihakushō had been burned off and her arm appeared bruised and battered. The rest of her uniform had fared only slightly better, and she was looking worse for wear.

The hollow was on the ground too, just a few meters across from her. It let out a loud scream that quickly snapped Seree out of her daze, making her sit up with a pain grimace on her face. However, the hollow did not stand, it had lost an arm and was contorting in pain on the ground. The other arm seemed to be grabbing its face.

"What are you d..." She stopped to cough again, then tried again. "What are you doing? Is it... trying to rip its mask off?"

She cast a glance across the area and found her Zanpakutō not far from where she was laying. As the hollow continued to struggle with itself on the ground, she stood up with some effort and walked towards it.

"Bakudō one, Restrain."

Seree had just enough time to turn in surprise towards the direction of the voice before her arms got locked behind her back and she fell on her knees.

"Argh! Kidō? Who?"

She barely made a dark humanoid figure some distance behind the hollow. The silhouette advanced slowly until it stopped next to it. With a quick movement, it slashed at it and split its head in two, and Seree could see a blade reflecting the distant lights of the city.

It was a Zanpakutō. She opened her mouth but remained silent, as her face turned into a mask of fear. The hollow dissolved away into spirit particles without any further noise.

_That reiatsu... That's... It can't be... That's the reiatsu I felt in Sol Society!  
><em>

"Tsk, what an utter failure." The mysterious figure said, turning towards Seree and walking slowly. As it got closer, she managed to make out some of the features in the moonlight. It was a man. He was tall, at least six feet, and with a slim build; his hair was kept short and spiky, with a long ponytail that swayed from side to side as he walked. His clothes were almost all white, a simple keikogi with wide zubon and bound around his waist with a black obi. She couldn't distinguish his face very well, but it looked narrow and rather angular.

"So's really you. Not like I see hair like that everyday, just couldn't believe it. But I'm impressed you manage to follow me all the way out here out."

He had a hoarse voice, and his tone was cold and dismissive. He looked around then turned to her again.

"Ya came here by yourself I see. Bit surprised they didn't send that other fella you killed that hollow with, he looked quite bit better than you."

"It's... It was you?" Seree's unbelief obvious in her voice. "That reiatsu I felt, you were there?"

Seree didn't see his expression of surprise. An instant later, he started laughing heartily.

"Aw man! You ain't following me!" He continued laughing. "That's what happens when one's too paranoid. Aw man! And I took all this trouble too." He stopped laughing and fixed his eyes on hers.

Seree felt a chill running up her spine, and her heart broke out at a gallop, trying to beat its way out of her chest. The man continued talking.

"But you know. Now that you seen me, I'm afraid I'll have to kill ya."

He grinned and raised his sword. Seree's mouth moved, but she couldn't speak a word.

"Aren't ya gonna call for help?" He insisted.

Silence.

"Well?"

He feinted a slash, and finally Seree let loose a sharp cry for help as she closed her eyes ahead of the attack. The man in white kept his sword high and waited until Seree looked at him again. His grin was even wider.

"That's more like it. When you arrive in hell, tell them..."

He suddenly diverted his attention towards his right, slashing down at the object flying towards him. The gym bag split in half and dislodged its contents all over the place. Clothes and a few long objects Seree couldn't make out in the darkness. What she did make out was a sword, and someone carrying it slashing at her attacker. He dodged easily taking a step backwards, and the newcomer placed himself between her and the man in white.

"And who the hell are ya?" He asked the newcomer.

"Does it matter? Look, I've no idea what's going on here, but it looked like some dude was about to kill this girl here with a sword. So what the heck's going on?"

_I can't feel any reiatsu, that's just some ordinary human! _Seree thought in surprise. "You can see me?"

The young man turned slightly towards her. He was about as tall as the man in white, but looked to be more heavily built. He was too close to Seree for her to see much else from her point of view, but she could make out a sword. She had never seen a sword like that in Soul Society, although it was nothing but a rather common looking saber.

"Just barely. The dark clothes didn't help, but the hair sure did."

"That's not what I meant!"

"Look, how about you get up and run away now?"

"I... can't..."

She struggled to free herself from the binding spell, but she couldn't even move one inch.

"Oi oi, don't ignore me punk." The man in white said. "I said who the hell are ya."

"Name's Yaso. Itou Yaso." He replied calmly. "What about answering my question now?"

"Ye've got guts fer a human. Katsutoshi. Remember it on your way to hell."

Yaso raised one eyebrow as he spoke.

"What a pretentious git, that's not what I asked."

Katsutoshi raised his left hand as Yaso talked, pointing at him with his index and middle fingers.

"Bakudō one, Restrain!"

For a couple of second, the two men looked at each other, while Seree looked at Yaso with an expression of complete surprise. Katsutoshi looked confused. Yaso looked mystified.

"What..."

All three spoke the same word in unison, for very different reasons.

"What on earth is that supposed to mean?" Yaso finished.

Seree's thoughts were in complete disarray.

_It didn't affect him? At all?__I've seen shinigami messing up kidō. And captains blowing away spells with their reiatsu. But this... It did nothing at all. Nothing!_

"What the hell did you do?" Katsutoshi asked.

"Huh? What did I do on the what now?" Yaso replied, confused.

"Making fun of me are ya?" Katsutoshi's sword trembled in his hand as he firmed his grip on it. His face showed his barely contained anger, and with only one word he charged at Yaso. "Die!"


	10. Chapter 10

Katsutoshi's ferocious but straightforward attack had not been difficult to deflect for Yaso, if the fluidity of his motions was any indication. He hit the blade of the Zanpakutō with the guard of his saber in a quick cross motion with his right arm, then pushed forward and gave Katsutoshi a mouthful of elbow. They both quickly stepped away from each other just beyond striking distance.

Yaso was the first one to talk.

"Don't give me that look; you came at me without even trying to guard yourself, what are you expecting?"

Katsutoshi could taste his own blood, albeit it was just a small wound on the lip.

_He's just a filthy human! How did he do this? How could he stop my Zanpakutō? What the hell's going on here?_

"Oi, what the hell's with that sword of yours?" He demanded.

"What, this?" Yaso raised his sword vertically for an instant, then assumed proper guard again. "Yeah, it's a real saber. I usually don't carry it, but we had an exhibition today." He glanced around. "You sure have messed up my fencing gear."

The expression on Katsutoshi's face didn't change, like the words had been completely meaningless. His anger, too, was still apparent. He grabbed his katana with both hands, raised it slightly, and disappeared in a blur before Yaso's eyes. Seree gasped.

_Shunpo!_

"Behind you!"

She had shouted at the top of her lungs. The shunpo had been so fast she only barely followed it, and the human looked like he hadn't followed at all. Yaso turned around almost instinctively, describing a wide arc with his saber. The impact easily turned its much thinner blade away, but he managed to block Katsutoshi's attack with the guard.

_Clang!_ The swords went as they clashed. Yaso almost lost his balance after parrying, and Katsutoshi fiercely pressed his advantage.

_I have never seen a sword style like that human's._

Seree looked at the combatants as best she could from her precarious position. Parry, riposte, parry, riposte. While Katsutoshi seemed to have the advantage, Yaso managed a good riposte whenever he deflected the Zanpakutō, and parried firmly with the guard when he couldn't.

"Your right!" Seree cried out at the top of her lungs.

Shunpo again. Yaso reacted faster, but still looked bewildered by his opponent's movements. For a split seconds they both stopped, and suddenly Yaso rushed to stand between the girl and her attacker.

"How the..." Katsutoshi started to ask, but Yaso interrupted.

"I don't need to be a genius to notice you looking at her with that killing intent. What the heck is that?"

Seree couldn't see his face, but knew the last question had been directed at her.

"That's shunpo, it's a movement technique that uses reiatsu to move extremely fast."

"Reiatsu?"

"Yes, spirit power."

***Thunk***

There was a very intense pulse of something she didn't quite identify. It had startled her, and apparently had startled Katsutoshi too.

_Reiatsu? No, I _felt _that. It was like a feeling. Pain?_

"Spirit. Riiiight." Yaso talked in the slightly sarcastic tone of disbelief.

Seree noticed Katsutoshi was looking rather distracted. Yaso took a cautious step towards him, which immediately snapped his opponent to attention.

"Dammit, outta time." Katsutoshi muttered, then spoke loudly. "It's yer lucky day. I'll finish you off next time."

He disappeared with a shunpo. Yaso looked frantically around him, until Seree saw him fixing his gaze at some spot behind her.

"Is he gone?" She said, struggling with the kidō and failing to turn her head. "I can't feel his reiatsu at all."

Yaso continued looking in the distance, then closed his eyes and pressed with his left hand fingers on them. When he looked again, blinking repeatedly, his expression had changed, and Seree couldn't quite read it. Surprised wasn't quite the way she'd put it, but it was close.

"Bloody..." He muttered unhappily.

"Gone?"

"I guess so."

_Guess?_

He raised his saber and examined it. The guard had several large dents, and his grip on the hilt seemed to be trembling slighty. His breathing was heavier, but well controlled.

"He was really good." He finally concluded. He then looked at Seree with extreme intensity for a few seconds, making her feel rather uncomfortable. "Are you going to tell me what's going on now?"

_What's gotten into him? He sounds really worried now._

"I... Ugh..." She struggled, but still didn't manage to break the restraining spell.

"Miyanaga-san! Miyanaga-san!" A voice called in the distance.

"Oh. Yamada-san! Over here!" Seree replied.

Yaso turned towards the direction of the voice and saw two people running towards them.

"Friends of yours?"

"Hrmmm... Y..."

"Are you ok? Need a hand?"

Yaso grabbed her left arm and pulled her up. The kidō shattered instantly, shaking her from head to toe, and making her let out a small cry of surprise and pain.

"Miyanaga-san!"

The rapidly approaching voice carried a note of worry, but it was the second voice that caught Seree's attention.

"Howl, Zabimaru!"


	11. Chapter 11

Yaso was laying on the ground with Seree on top of him, his arm around her protectively and his face stuck with an expression of shock over what had just happened.

"Are you okay?" Seree asked, sitting up on her knees besides him, and looking down inquisitively at his face.

"Just fine." He muttered. "Are you? What was that?"

"That was Abarai-s..." She was interrupted by someone shouting her name. "Yeah, that's him. Abarai-san!" She turned to look at Renji as he came running. "He's the one who saved me, please..."

Her face suddenly froze when she turned to look at Yaso and her eyes fell on his chest. Her mouth was hanging open, repeatedly trying and failing to start talking.

"Seree! What's going on, are you hurt?" Renji called as he reached them.

"M-M... M..." Seree muttered, failing to speak.

"Eeeh? What's wrong girl?" Renji insisted.

"M-M-M... My hair!" She finally cried out.

Yaso's chest was covered with long multi-colored hair. She had jumped towards him when she heard Renji calling his attack, crashing on his chest as she tried to get him out of the way. He had grabbed her as he fell, and that way both had dodged Zabimaru. It had been very close, and only at that moment she realized just how close it had been. Close enough for a rather drastic haircut. Seree reached with her trembling hands for the back of her head, and her eyes opened even wider as she felt for the hair that was no longer there.

Renji's face looked terrified.

_S-S-Shit! She's going to kill me! I'm so dead! Captain Unohana is going to kill me!_

The short conversation they had had before coming to the real world became that much more vivid in his head.

"You know, Abarai-kun, Seree used to tell me you looked very scary when she was in the 6th division." Unohana had said, in her most pleasant voice.

"Ah? You make it sound like I eat babies or something, Captain."

"Of course not." Unohana smiled. With an almost audible click, her tone changed and Renji felt a chill up his spine. "But please. Take care. Of Seree."

"S-S-Sure... C-C-Captain!"

_She's going to kill meeeeeeeeee!_

Renji's panic attack subsided when he noticed Yaso had sat up on the soft grass and was looking at him, or, rather, looking at his sword. He had been so distracted that he had sealed Zabimaru without even thinking.

"What are you looking at?" He asked, then his expression changed suddenly. "Wait, you can see me? Who the hell are you?"

"Another guy with a sword. Oh great, and another. Oh-kay..." Yaso muttered as Hanatarō arrived, running and breathing heavily. "Itou Yaso. And who may you be? And what on earth is going on here?"

Before Renji could answer, Seree grabbed his sword arm with her right hand.

"Abarai-san please, he saved me."

Renji gave Yaso a final look, pulled up with his arm to help her stand up, and in doing so made her yelp in pain.

"Ayay! Miyanaga-san, you're really hurt!" Hanatarō cried out, rushing to her side.

Renji let go suddenly with the most eloquent _oh crap_ expression anyone could ever make, and Hanatarō hurriedly knelt besides her.

"Look, just take her to a doctor, there's a clinic I know not far from here." Yaso talked as he stood up and picked up his saber and scabbard. "If you don't want to tell me what's going on that's fine, I'll just be on my way."

"No wait!"

Yaso had turned and started walking away, so Seree quickly stood up and ran towards him. When she grabbed his sleeve, he reacted instantly, turning around and pulling back with wide eyes and clenched teeth. Seree reacted in a similar fashion, and took a quick and cautious step back. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds.

_I was sure he was going to reach for his sword._

"What." Yaso said, rather than asked, in a very flat voice.

"Please come with us."

"What?" Both Yaso and Renji said at the same time.

"The person who attacked me, you fought him and, well, we need to ask you about him. I barely saw his face but you had a much better look, and..."

She stopped talking and looked at Yaso. She had just realized she had barely stopped to take a look at him either. He was about six feet tall, very short hair and an oval face with a slightly squared jaw which, together with his deep seated eyes, gave him an air of strength in his looks. She also remembered he had felt strong when she bumped into him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Ah? Nothing!" She stammered, thankful for the low light she hoped covered her blushing. "Will you come with us? I'll tell you what's going on too."

"Oi Seree, this is Shinigami business, don't go mixing a human with us." Renji chided her.

"Shini..." Yaso muttered.

"Lieutenant, please!"

"Lieutenant?" Yaso, again, muttered in confusion.

He looked quite confused while Seree and Renji exchanged looks. Her voice had been firm, and she held her eyes fixed on the Lieutenant, no sign of hesitation. Renji sighed.

"Man, this sucks." He muttered, resting Zabimaru on his shoulder. "Fine. But it's on you if we get in trouble."

They both turned to Yaso. He seemed to think about it for a while, then nodded to himself.

"Okay, fine, I'll play. But help me pick up my gear will you?"

"Hm?" Renji asked.

"My fencing gear." He turned and started picking up pieces from the ground. "Man, what a mess, how on earth did he send it all flying like this? And... Crap, the bag's ruined!"

The only one who helped him was Hanatarō, Renji and Seree stood on one side and talked in a low voice.

"So who attacked you? Hanatarō said it was just a hollow, like the one..."

"A Shinigami."

Seree had interrupted Renji as he spoke, but didn't look at him. She had her left hand on her right shoulder, but the trembling on her voice didn't sound like it was because of pain.

"You're kidding."

"No. He wasn't wearing the uniform, but it was obvious."

Renji didn't answer, just turned his gaze towards Yaso and Hanatarō. He suddenly opened his eyes wide and looked at Seree with a surprised face, and saw that she, too, had her eyes fixed on Yaso.

"He fought a Shinigami?"

"Uh-huh." Seree nodded.

_Man, this town's ridiculous. _Renji thought, shaking his head.

In the meantime, Hanatarō and Yaso were looking for the latter's belongings in the dim light of the riverbank._  
><em>

"Itou-san! Is this yours too?" Hanatarō asked.

"That's an empty can! Why on earth would I carry that dirty thing?"

"Ah! Hahaha, so I guess it isn't..."


	12. Chapter 12:  Omake 1

**Fade in, a chibi shinigami runs across the screen as a rainbow curtain sweeps through it.  
><strong>

"I wish you had come a little earlier, Lieutenant." Seree sighed.

"I'm sorry!" Hanatarō said. "I had to run all the way to Urahara-san's shop and I can't use shunpo!"

"You can just call me next time, you know." Renji answered.

"I'm sorry Lieutenant, but Seree had the phone and..."

"Did I?"

"I'm sorry! I thought you did!"

Seree searched her pockets as Hanatarō spoke.

"Well, I don't... Let's see... I was checking the hollow, then... Oh no!"

She snapped with eyes wide open.

"What?" Renji and Hanatarō asked.

"Ch... Chappy..."

Somewhere else in Karakura town, a girl who looks identical to Seree was talking on her cellphone.

"Really? You're sooooo lucky, pyon! He's so dreamy... I'd love to go with him on a date. Noooo! Hahahaha! Maybe the Hanami... Yes, can you imagine? Oooh, it makes me jump in excitement just thinking about it, pyon!"

Seree's expression had turned dark as she walked on, completely downcast.

"You know you'll have to pay the phone bill yourself, right?" Renji asked.

"Yes... -_-;;"


	13. Chapter 13

_What a bunch of weirdos._

Yaso took a look around him. They had shown him to the back of a dingy-looking shop and now was sitting having tea in a small and much overcrowded room. He glanced again at the suspicious looking black cat in the corner, and turned to the man with the striped hat.

"So... uh..."

"Urahara Kisuke." He answered slowly, with a slightly exaggerated intonation, then started indicating the others in the room. "Matsumoto Rangiku..."

Yaso's eyes strayed for a few moments.

_Sheesh, look at the size of that rack._

"Kuchiki Rukia, and I believe you already met Abarai-kun and Yamada-kun. Oh! And this is Tsukabishi Tessai." Urahara added, when he saw Yaso's gaze wandering at the large man wearing glasses next to him.

"Where's the girl with the crazy hair?" Yaso asked.

"She..."

"Aieeeeee!" A feminine voice suddenly interrupted them.

"Ah, that's her, great timing!" Urahara grinned.

The sound of fast approaching footsteps followed the cry, and they were followed by the door to the room slamming open. Seree was holding it open with one hand, and the other was on her head. Her expression was that of complete shock.

"Urahara-san! What... Why... ;_;"

"Oooh, you noticed! My gigai are of the best quality, they'll look exactly like you do when you enter them! Even down to your hair, as you can see, and if you change your hair, so will the gigai!"

Urahara's wide smile and goofy attitude were in sharp contrast with the obvious distress on Seree's face. Yaso sighed.

_What a bunch of weirdos._

"Here."

A young girl with black hair and two bangs of hair coming down her blushed face was offering him a cup with steaming green tea.

"Oh, thank you." Yaso replied, taking the cup and sipping.

"Anyway, thank you for the explanation. Still, it was quite lucky that you were there and carrying a sword, of all things!" Urahara said, hiding his mouth behind his paper fan.

"One?" Renji looked at the badly tied together bundle sitting in the corner. "What about five? Sheesh."

"Oh, these aren't really good for fighting." Yaso replied.

"Eh? Why's that?"

"Take a look."

Yaso reached for the bundle and took an epee from it. With a fluid motion he turned and lurched at Renji from his sitting position. He reacted quickly, but didn't manage to dodge the attack.

"Hey! What are..." Renji stopped talking when he noticed the sword bending after hitting him. "Oi, what's this thing?"

"This..." Yaso pulled back and raised the sword as he spoke." Is an epee. And with the blunt end, the flimsy guard, and no edge, it's not really good for real combat."

"Why would you carry a weapon like that?"

"Well, it's for my fencing class. Wait..." Yaso looked at Renji's confused expression. "You don't know what fencing is, right?"

"Never heard of it."

"It's just a swordfighting style. We put that gear on so that we don't hurt each other," Yaso pointed at the bundle, "and we practice with these. It's not like you would use a live blade to practice with your mates, would you?"

"Well, sometimes." Renji grinned.

"But this one _is _a real blade. Very good craftsmanship too..." Urahara spoke while examining Yaso's saber, the one he had used during the fight.

"Yes, yes it is." Yaso replied, taking the sword and sheathing it.

"Ooh, sorry, sorry. I was so curious I couldn't help myself." Urahara spoke as he covered, again, his mouth with the fan he always carried.

"I've never seen swords like these." Seree said, looking at the various weapons that were passing around.

"Lieutenant Sasakibe's Zanpakutō looks like that, but that's the only one I can think of." Rukia replied.

"Right..." Yaso interrupted them, and turned to Urahara. "So, what's going on then?"

"Erm, 'scuse me?"

"Seree said you'd tell me what's going on if I came. So?"

"Ah, I see. Well, the truth is..." Urahara adopted a mysterious air, letting the words hang in the air for an instant too long. "We don't have a clue."

Urahara shielded his face from Yaso's shocked gaze with his fan, while everyone else's expressions ranged from Tessai's completely unchanged one to Renji's failed effort to contain his laughter.

"Why you..."

"We really only know what you and Seree-chan have told us, you're the ones who had the sword fight. And then he ran away, did you notice anything peculiar?"

"Peculiar?" Yaso asked surprised, raising an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"For example, how did he run away?"

"Uh... One foot after another? How many ways of running are there?"

"Oh? Is that so?"

Yaso raised an eyebrow again as he looked at Urahara, and changed subject.

"Pointlessness aside," he looked at Seree, "what were _you_ going to explain? And don't say you don't have a clue either!"

"Eep! I... Well, I though just to tell you about Shinigami and..."

_Why is he so angry?_

Urahara snapped everyone to attention with a hit of his fan on the table, and then pointed with it at Rukia.

"Kuchiki-san, I believe this is right up your alley. If you will."

"Oh, right."

Rukia picked up the sketchbook and pencils Tessai was offering her, and started drawing. After a few minutes, she coughed, turned the sketchbook so that everyone could see her drawings, and began talking in a lecturing tone.

"We are Shinigami, Soul Reapers. We come into the real world from Soul Society, the place where souls find eternal rest, and our job is to help guide souls into the afterlife and to combat evil..."

She paused when she saw Yaso's face.

"What's the matter?"

"No... Nothing..." _Holy smokes, she sucks at drawing._

"Ahem. As I was saying, part of our jobs is to combat evil spirits, which are called hollow, as opposed to _plus_, or good spirits."

Urahara clapped politely while Yaso looked at them both with an embarrassed expression.

"Excellent explanation. So, how was it, Itou-sa...?"

"What a bunch of nonsense. I don't believe a word of it."

***Thunk***

Seree raised her hand to her chest instinctively, with eyes wide open. She looked around and saw everyone else, except Yaso and Urahara, had had a similar reaction. A very short pulse of... _something_.

_That's the same feeling I had during the fight! Is that Katsutoshi around here again?_

She started to hurriedly get up, but was interrupted by Urahara, talking in his usual non-chalant voice.

"Now, now, don't be so hasty."

Seree stopped.

_Is he speaking to me or to Yaso?_

"How can you say that so nonchalantly after the fight you had, Itou-san?" Urahara continued, and while doing so he glanced at Seree for a split second.

She sat down again. Yaso puffed his cheeks angrily.

"You want me to believe all that crap..."

***Thunk***

"... after just a sword fight with some random dude?"

"Ayaaaaa, please stop saying such things, Itou-san, you're making everyone uncomfortable." Urahara opened his fan and put it in front of his face as he spoke.

Yaso looked around and noticed how everyone was looking back at him rather intently.

"Perhaps a demonstration will work better. Seree-chan, if you will..."

Seree looked at Urahara, and saw he was pointing at her with his cane. There was the image of the skull on a blue and black flame at the bottom, and when she saw it, she nodded and started looking for something in her pocket. It was a glove, a Gokon Tekkō, used to push souls away from their bodies (faux or otherwise). She put it on, and with that same hand she lurched at Yaso, hitting him on the chin.

He fell back with a loud thud.

"Oi! What's the big idea?" He shouted. He sat ap with a none-too-happy expression, and was immediately whacked on the back of the head by Urahara with the end of his cane. He fell down face first.

Right on Seree's chest.

The uncomfortable silence was almost palpable.

"Aieeeee!" Seree pulled back, putting both her arms over her breasts.

"What on earth were you thinking, you sandal hat freak!" Yaso turned, looking rather angry.

"Hmmmm." Urahara replied, looking at Yaso with well disguised curiosity. "Now, now. You were so open I couldn't help myself. You have to keep your guard up at all times you know!"

"Why you little..."

"There, there, no need to get so angry. Here, have one."

"Huh?"

Urahara was offering Yaso a bowl full of green candy balls. Seree noticed it was probably soul candy. She wondered about what Urahara was thinking, first making her use the Gokon Tekkō and then trying to push Yaso's soul out of his body with his cane. She had been so distracted by Yaso putting his face between her breasts that she hadn't realized something obvious.

_Wait a minute. I couldn't peel his soul out of his body? What the heck?_

She looked around, and noticed the Shinigami were looking at Yaso with extreme intensity. They had obviously noticed too.

"What's this?" Yaso asked, examining the bowl.

"Just some candy. Don't chew it, it's quite hard." He spoke in his easygoing tone, and kept everyone else from saying anything by continuing his talk. "Anyway, back to this person you fought..."

"Katsutoshi." Yaso replied before popping one piece of candy into his mouth.

"Yes, that. The truth of the matter is, we don't really know who he is. There was an incident with an unusual attack on Soul Society a few days ago, and he appeared as we were investigating a similar one here, but it is early to conclude the two are related."

"Uhhh, you make it sound like it's some sort of gang war going on."

"My my! Don't say it like that." Urahara covered his mouth with his fan. "You make it sound like we are gangsters or something. We... Are you okay?"

Yaso had suddenly started coughing, hitting his chest like he was choking on something.

"Itou-san!" Seree reached for him as he struggled, and finally, with a sharp hit on the back from her, he coughed up the piece of candy he had taken, sending it flying across the room. He kept coughing while Seree held his shoulder.

"Oh my, went the wrong way in?" Urahara asked.

"I... *cough* I guess so."

Seree looked at Urahara with her brow furrowed. _Like that can go down the wrong way! What is going on here?_

"Well, I'm all out of exposition now." Urahara shrugged. "Do you have any other questions Itou-san?"

"Well, I don't really get it, but I guess I don't have to worry about random people jumping at me with swords and stuff. Going by what you say, it's nothing to do with me or Karakura town really, right?"

"I guess you could put it that way."

"Okay. Well, I'll be on my way then."

"Before you go, Itou-san, could I ask a favour?"

"What is it?"

"It's just... Seree-chan, where are you going to spend the night?"

"I... Oh no! The apartment is ruined!" Seree put her hands on her cheeks in her distress. "The poor landlady, what am I going to tell her?"

"Don't have to worry about that." Renji said, making everyone turn to him. "I used a memory modifier on the whole lot of them."

"Thank goodness... But still, we ruined her whole apartment."

Yaso had been looking at the whole conversation without much interest, but Urahara quickly brought him back to reality.

"So, Itou-san, would you mind letting her stay in your place?"

"Whaaaa? Why on earth would I? Why can't she stay with you?"

"I'd love to help, but unfortunately..." Urahara sighed and pointed at Renji. "I have too many freeloaders already."

"Why are you only pointing at me?" Renji answered, rather unhappily.

"It can't be helped." Matsumoto spoke in her favourite trademark airhead bimbo tone, the one she used when she wanted to get away with something. "Orihime-chan is on Summer vacation so I can't stay at her place."

"And Ichigo is not back until tomorrow." Rukia added, nodding sagely. "Stop complaining Renji."

"But you're freelo..." Renji protested.

"It's okay, freeloader-dono." Tessai interrupted him. "We understand and know you are grateful."

"I... Urgh..."

Yaso sighed and looked at Urahara with a rather unhappy expression.

"And you're just going to send this girl to spend the night at a place of someone you just met?"

"Ah, about that, I'm hoping you have room for Yamada-kun too, hehehe."

Yaso turned in the direction Urahara was pointing with his fan, and saw Hanatarō, who was smiling uneasily and waving his hand at him, after failing to completely blend into the background and become invisible.

Yaso sighed again.

"Why am I not surprised... Okay, fine. Let's go."

"Excellent. Oh, and Seree-chan, here is another Chappy Soul Candy dispenser, since you lost the last one."

"Oh thank you, Urahara-san."

"Hm? More candy?" Yaso asked.

"This is the candy I use... Well, it's easier if I show you!"

Seree pressed the top of the dispenser and out came flying a small round soul candy piece. She gulped, and immediately split from her gigai.

"Taa-daa!" She chimed, extending both her arms with a big smile.

Yaso did not react. At all.

"That's a bit disappointing. Can he actually see her?" Matsumoto asked Rukia, and the latter just shrugged.

"Here, here, don't look so disappointed, Itou-san. You can have one too." Urahara offered a Chappy dispenser to Yaso.

"I don't..."

"Hai, hai, just keep it, here you go."

Yaso put it in his pocket without much thought and with a rather Spartan "goodbye" grabbed his bundle of gear and left, with Seree and Hanatarō in tow.


	14. Chapter 14

"Go!"

The training tatami of the 9th division was at its busiest. In the middle, two Shinigami fought each other with bokken, one wearing a white cloth over his shoulders. After the first attack on him, the second Shinigami quickly dodged to his left as another assailant lunged at him, with such a speed very few would have noticed who it really was, had it not been for his loud voice shouting orders.

"Good! Don't stop!"

"Yes Lieutenant!"

The exercised continued. Attack and retreat, attack and retreat. Hisagi would constantly change his attack pattern, always trying, often successfully, to get the attackers by surprise. After a few exchanges, the trainees would trade position or take a break and leave room for the next Shinigami.

"Excuse me... Hisagi-san!"

"Oh, Lieutenant Kotetsu."

Hisagi stopped his fast movements and jumped with shunpo out of training.

"Do you have a minute? We got a report from Seree you may want to take a look at."

"Sure. Mazaki!"

"Sir!" A shinigami answered, quickly jumping in front of the lieutenants with well executed shunpo.

"Take my place and continue the exercise."

"Yes sir!"

"What's going on? Special training?" Isane asked as they walked away.

"Yes. After yesterday's encounter with that hollow I realized there is something strange going on with them. It may just be coincidence, but these hollow had strange movements. I don't want my men to be caught by surprise a third time."

"I see.."

"Didn't you notice yesterday? Oh and.. thanks again, you were a big help, if it wasn't for you..."

"Ah, don't worry about it. But..." Isane looked up as she tried to remember the battle they had the previous day. "I can't say I noticed anything unusual, I was too busy healing people. It did seem like a very strong hollow though. Was it that hard when Seree was with you too?"

"Yes. The hollow yesterday was probably stronger, but that one caught us by surprise."

"Stronger..." Isane looked at Hisagi with a worried expression. "What does all this mean?"

Hisagi had a serious expression, but appeared fairly calm.

"It's to early to tell. Hopefully the 12th division will be able to tell us something with the sample we got for them. Ah, here we go, come in please."

They had been walking through the barracks and had arrived at the Captain's office. Hisagi sat at the desk with the ease of familiarity and started reading the papers Isane had given her. Soon, a Shinigami entered carrying two cups of tea. Isane thanked him, but Hisagi didn't even look up or notice.

"That girl... Did she really defeat one of these hollow by herself?"

"Yes. She is usually very accurate in her reporting, so I believe her. However..."

"Yeah, I know, there was something odd about it." Hisagi looked at Isane, and she nodded.

"That too, but what I was going to say is that what worries me the most is what she said about the Shinigami that attacked her."

"Shinigami?"

"Oh, sorry, I interrupted you. Please keep reading."

Hisagi turned to the report again, and slowly his serious expression took a more somber look.

"What's going on here..." He muttered.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud voice calling his name, and the loud rumble of someone running. The door to the office opened with a slam.

"Lieutenant Hisagi! Hollow have appeared!"

Another door opened, but this one did so at a leisurely pace. Seree entered the small apartment.

"Itou-san! Ito... Oh, good morning!"

Yaso looked at the girl with a bored expression. She swirled around, showing off her four colored hair; white, blonde, red, brown, all in orderly bunches flowed around her head. It was much shorter than it had been, barely reaching under her ears. Yaso had not had a chance to look at it like that until then.

"Good morning."

"Rangiku-san showed me to this amazing place this morning." She giggled. "They fixed my hair, and had all these amazing beauty products, Rangiku-san even had this mask on with slices of vegetables and..." She giggled again.

"And just yesterday you were in such a panic over losing your hair."

"Erm... Hehe, true but, you see..." She put both her hands on her hair without thinking, always trying to cover it. "I'm just amazed they fixed it so well."

"Yeah, yeah. Well don't worry too much, I'm sure it'll grow again in no time."

Seree opened her eyes with a surprised expression, and in her confusion didn't quite know how to respond to that. She noticed that Yaso was actually putting his shoes on, and she suddenly remembered.

"Oh, right! Itou-san, can you come with me? Urahara-san wants to talk with you."

"Sorry, can't go now, got an appointment."

"I... Erm... I see. Could you come later then?"

"I won't be back until the afternoon."

"That's okay. Oh, and please bring your sword too."

Yaso was about to leave, but with that he stopped suddenly and turned to Seree.

"My sword? What on earth for?"

"I... I don't know, Urahara-san didn't tell me."

Seree felt a bit uncomfortable under Yaso's instense gaze.

_I wish he wouldn't look a me like that._

"And you didn't ask? I suppose being invited around and asked to bring a sword is perfectly normal to you."

"I... I didn't think of that, I... suppose it is."

Yaso sighed.

"I got it, sure, I'll go later today. See ya."

Yaso closed the door and Seree stood there looking at it for a few seconds. Her reverie was interrupted by the beeping of her cellphone.

"Hollow!"


	15. Chapter 15

"Lieutenant."

"Yes!"

Hisagi was leading a group of six Shinigami through the forest North of Seireitei, running at great speed between the trees.

"The contact point is just ahead."

"Good. Stay close and keep your distance at first, just like in training."

"Yes sir!"

The forest opened up into a small clearing. The men formed a circle with their backs towards each other, and their weapons at the ready. Hisagi looked around slowly, not wanting to miss the most minute detail.

"I can't feel anything. Stay sharp. Mazaki, is this the right spot?"

"Yes sir, I'm sure." He took a ragged map and examined it. "Right on this clearing. Man, this map's really old, the clearing looks a lot bigger on the map."

After a few minutes without incident, a sharp beeping broke the silence. Mazaki took a communicator out of his pocket.

"Yes. Uh-huh. What? Where?"

Back in the real world, Seree was jumping from rooftop to rooftop towards the signal on her cellphone. Before she could reach, though, it disappeared.

"What the..."

Her answer came when she arrived and saw Matsumoto was already at the spot.

"Phew, that was fast. I suppose with a Lieutenant taking care of things it really is this easy. Matsumoto-san!"

"Oh, Seree-chan. You came for the hollow too?"

"Yes! I'm very impressed with how quick you are, Lieutenant, hehe."

"Of course! I..."

Beeping again. Seree took her cellphone out and Matsumoto joined her looking at the screen, towering a good half a head above her and peeping over her shoulder.

"Another hollow."

"Let's go!"

"Aaah, wait for me Lieutenant!"

In Soul Society, things hadn't improved much. The Shinigami had gathered on a riverbank and were still waiting for an attack that never came.

"Oi Mazaki, what's going on?"

"This is where they said the contact had appeared, Lieutenant."

Up ahead, the noise of the waterfall roared gently with a musical regularity, slowly digging in the soil and pushing muddy waters downstream.

"We may have a teleporting hollow everyone, stay focused. Break in pairs and split up once we get a new location, try to cover the terrain and to get the drop on it as soon as it appears."

"Yes Lieutenant!" The men answered in unison.

They didn't have to wait for long before the 12th division contacted them again.

"Yes, it's gone. Uh-huh. Got it." Mazaki was looking at the map as he spoke. He then pointed in a direction North-notheast. "That way, three miles."

"Everyone, go!" Hisagi ordered, and all the Shinigami disappeared in a flash.

Matsumoto took a second to look at the place where the signal had come from before pushing forward with shunpo.

"That's... Renji!" She called as she landed on the rooftop.

"Oh, Rangiku."

"Here for the hollow?"

"Ah, yes, but..."

Their conversation was interrupted when Seree flashed in with Shunpo. She was breathing heavily and looked like she had had to put quite an effort.

"Aaaah Seree-chan, you came in last."

"Lieutenant Matsumoto... You're too fast..."

"Meh, we were too late anyway. Really, if I had known I wouldn't have bothered..."

Seree turned her eyes towards Renji. He looked completely relaxed.

_Lieutenant Abarai is amazing too, I feel kind of useless. Lieutenant... I wonder how Hisagi-san is doing, I hope he's having less trouble than me. Ah, silly girl, he's even more amazing._

In the outskirts of Rukongai, the Shinigami converged on a rocky outcrop around Hisagi.

"Lieutenant! Did it disappear again?"

"Yes, I caught a glimpse of it. Just a regular hollow, but it disappeared suddenly. And..."

"And?"

"The space around it looked strange just as it disappeared."

Hisagi pointed at the ground, and it looked as if two large rocks had been cut and then placed together like two halves of a single piece.

"There may be other small signs like these." Hisagi turned around to look in the distance, while the rest of the Shinigami did similarly. "We should..."

_What?_

Hisagi suddenly felt a presence right behind him. Shocked, the tried to turn as quickly as possible, but everything seemed to be happening in slow motion – the hyperawareness in critical battles he was familiar with. It was a hollow, its body was like that of a large lizard, but in addition to the four lizard legs it had two crab-like pincers in the front, and a red carapace on top of his body. The mask covering the face had a long muzzle, with a single horn attached at the end.

One of the pincers was going towards him, the other towards the Shinigami closest to it. The lizard legs had claws, and they too were looking for a target.

_Dammit, how could it appear so fast?_

Time resumed its march, and the cries of pain of the Shinigami mixed with the terrifying roar of the hollow.


	16. Chapter 16

"Well, no hollow here either." Renji muttered. "Oi Rukia!"

"Renji, Lieutenant Matsumoto."

"Ara, isn't this nice, we are all together now." Matsumoto said, then looked back. "Seree-chan came in last again!"

Seree didn't even answer, she was merely trying to catch her breath. They had all landed on the narrow strip of land next to the riverbank.

"Oh, Seree-chan, I didn't see you."

"Hi... *Cough* Kuchiki-dono."

"Did you get the hollow then?" Renji asked.

"No, by the time I got here it was gone."

"Tsk, what a pain." Renji looked around. "What's going on around here anyw..."

He was interrupted by a sudden hit of Spirit Pressure. The shinigami all started to turn, and Renji realized there was a hollow smack in the middle of them.

_This can't be... Where did it come from?_

He reacted more by instinct than anything else. He pushed back hard, ending up doing a backflip over his free hand while holding Zabimaru with the other, while something shot from the ground upwards trying to hit him, but Renji was too fast for such an attack to hit him.

He looked around. Matsumoto had also dodged out of the way, dragging Seree with her. The poor girl looked completely lost, holding on to Matsumoto for dear life. Rukia...

_No!_

"Rukia!"

He was only vaguely aware of what the hollow was like. There were several fleshy spears protruding from the ground, later he would realize it was the toes from the hollow's eight legs. But it was its tail that Renji was looking at. It had a sharp end, and it was piercing Rukia right through her stomach.

Before he could rush to her aid, Matsumoto quickly jumped with shunpo in front of him.

"Matsumoto! What are you doing? Move!"

"Watch her."

Renji looked at Rukia and realized she had released Sode no Shirayuki. As she was pushed back, she uttered the words for an attack.

"First dance... Tsukishiro!"

A pillar of light appeared, and with it a column of ice that encased the tail of the hollow and a good portion of its back. As the ice shattered, Renji saw Seree jump behind Rukia and catch her mid-air.

"Let's go, Renji. Rukia's fine."

"Right."

Renji raised his sword to his face, with the blade pointing down. His reiatsu started increasing, and a red light surrounded him.

"Renji, what are you..."

"Bankai!"

The reiatsu of Renji's transformation blew everything away around him. Matsumoto appeared a good distance above him in a blur of shunpo, while Seree carried Rukia away with more difficulty.

"Hihiō Zabimaru!"

"Oi Renji, are you crazy?"

"Shut up and stay back. Let's go Zabimaru!"

The hollow stood on its back legs and shot the toes of his remaining legs forward towards Renji. Zabimaru curled protectively around him, but the impact sent it flying in pieces, forcing him to jump out of the way.

"Abarai-san!"

"Don't worry. He's fine." Matsumoto replied, looking over her shoulder at Seree. "How's Rukia?"

Seree had her hands over Rukia's belly, as she tried to heal the wound with her kidō.

"It's okay, I can... Kuchiki-dono, please don't try to stand up!"

"Ren... ji..."

"You too? Look, he's fine, just relax."

The ends of Zabimaru's segments started glowing, and jumping out of the air they easily reconnected again. Rengi swung down his end of the chain, and Zabimaru dove in towards the hollow at great speed. With a monstrous bite, it grabbed the hollow and dragged it on the ground for a good ten meters before shooting up towards the sky, hollow held firmly in its powerful jaws.

Rukia was looking at the battle from the groun, and appeared to relax.

"Wow. A... Amazing."

"Ah? I thought you were in the 6th division before, Seree-chan."

"Only for a little while, I never saw Lieutenant Abarai's Bankai while I was there."

"Is that so? But he's really overdoing it, that fool."

"Hikōtsu Taihō!"

Seree watched with a mixture of admiration and fear how the attack channelled Renji's Reiatsu through his Zanpakutō, and finished the hollow with a powerful explosion that completely disintegrated it.

"See? Nothing to worry about."

"I... See..."

"Oi Renji, over here!"

As Renji sealed his Zanpakutō again, Seree noticed that he was breathing a bit heavier than usual, but walked towards them with an easy air about him.

_What an impressive attack. I didn't think anyone could finish one of these hollow with one shot other than a captain._

"That was good, but have you forgotten something?"

"Eh? What's that?"

Matsumoto searched her pocket and produced a strange vial with a sharp end.

"We were supposed to get a sample for Urahara-san."

…

"Aw crap." Renji slapped his forehead. "I completely forgot..."

Back in Soul Society, Hisagi had managed to avoid being injured, but two of his companions hadn't had such luck. After the its dynamic entrance, the hollow looked ready to follow up with more simultaneous attacks, but its movements were suddenly stopped, crashing on an orange barrier. It was completely surrounded by a cubical barrier.

"Hisagi-san!"

"Kotetsu! Everyone, quickly stand back, carry the wounded!"

"Yes sir!"

"What are you doing here?" Hisagi asked, more in surprise than anything else.

"Captain Unohana told me to come with you on your sorties after I explained what you told me about yesterday's hollow."

"I see."

The hollow trashed about inside the barrier, and with every successive impact it started to crack and fall apart.

"Please take care of them. Try to watch out for anything strange."

"Yes."

"Everyone! Fall back and follow my moves, jump in and out just like in training, got it?"

"Yes sir!"

The hollow broke out of the barrier with a loud scream, but before it could do anything, Hisagi cut off its lizard tail with Kazeshini, and quickly landed behind it. The tail suddenly twitched and, trashing about, jumped up and attacked Hisagi, only to be cut down to pieces by another two Shinigami who jumped in, and quickly dodged out of way as another two attacked the hollow from the front.

It responded fast with its pincers, grabbing one of the swords and throwing the Shinigami out of the way.

The remaining wounded shinigami were with Isane. One of them had a large wound on his leg, while the other one had been slashed across the chest. It was that one Isane was worried about, while the other merely tightly tied a piece of cloth around his wound.

"How is he.. Lieutenant... Ugh."

"Not good." Isane glanced at the man before turning to his patient. "Don't move, I'll be with you soon."

"That's fine, don't worry." He winced in pain, then continued talking. "Phew, look at them go, sees like the training worked."

Isane took a few seconds before answering.

"What was the training for specifically?"

"Lieutenant Hisagi said we should treat these hollows as if they had eyes on the back of their heads. Whenever we attack them, they're already planning a counterattack."

"That... Sounds too smart for the typical hollow."

"Yes, that's what I said too. Ugh."

The fight continued at the same pace, with the Shinigami inflicting smaller but numerous wounds and avoiding the counters of the hollow. Hisagi had been trying to observe the hollow's movements, and finally decided on a plan.

_Okay, this should work._

He whistled loudly, and made some fast arm gestures. The shinigami quickly scattered around the hollow, and three of them started an attack from three different points. The hollow countered all three, but they dodged as if they had been expecting it.

_Right, here goes!_

Hisagi threw Kazeshini and it deeply embedded itself on the hollows left shoulder, extracting a howl of pain and anger from it. He wrapped the chain of his Zanpakutō around the horn on its mask, and pulled back with all his might.

"Mazaki!"

The response came less than half a second later.

"Bakudo thirty-one, Red Fire Cannon!"

The spell crashed on the back of the hollow, and between the impulse and the pull from Hisagi, it went flying up a good five meters. Hisagi rushed forward, and with the other end of Kazeshini, attacked the exposed soft underbelly of the beast. The execution was perfect, and it ripped the hollow apart, inflicting a fatal wound and killing it even before it touched the ground, where it disintegrated in spirit particles.

Hisagi breathed deeply and sealed his Zanpakutō.

"Good job Lieutenant!"

The men cheered him as they came back together, but Hisagi didn't even notice, lost in his thoughts as he was.

_There's no doubt about it. These are hollow that should have evolved into Menos, but... Something interfered with them?_


	17. Chapter 17

When Yaso opened the door to his apartment, he was greeted by a rather unusual sight. The living room was in a state of disarray, with everything that used to live in the cabinets and bookcases scattered about the place.

"What the..."

"Oh, Itou-san, welcome home!"

"What on Earth happened here?"

Seree was in her gigai, wearing regular clothes and an apron over them, and her hair was covered under a white headscarf. She was in front of a glass cabinet, and apparently she had been rummaging through it for a while, several other trophies were scattered about.

"You're early! Or have I been at this that long? Well, I figured I would do something to thank you for letting us stay here, so... Erm, it's not that I think the place needed it or... Well, you know..."

She started getting flustered when she realized everything was coming out wrong. Yaso didn't seem to mind, he just smiled.

"I see. Well, thank you I guess. And yeah, I suppose the place did need a bit of tidying up."

"Hehe, you're welcome!" Seree replied enthusiastically. "You have a lot of trophies, you never told me you were this good at this fencing stuff! And this one's for..."

Yaso had been approaching her, and when she started to examine the trophy she was holding, he suddenly snatched it from her hand.

"Yeah well, nevermind this thing." He opened one of the drawers and tossed the trophy in.

Seree was surprised by this sudden change of attitude, but apparently preferred not to say anything.

"Anyway, this Urahara guy still wants to see me?"

"Oh right. Yes please, I..." Seree looked around. "I was supposed to go with you, but..."

"Let's go then, we can finish later."

"Okay! And don't forget..."

"Yes, my sword, I know." Yaso opened the chest where he kept all his fencing gear, and grabbed his saber and a long cloth bag to put it in. "Let's go."

The walk to the shop took a lot longer than Yaso had expected. Seree kept looking around her with an incredible amount of curiosity for pretty much anything and everything.

"Seree, where are you from anyway?"

"Eh? Ah, why do you ask?" She asked surprised.

"The way you look at everything, it's like you've never seen a vending machine..." He pointed at a soft drinks vending machine they had just passed by, "... or a television for the matter."

"Television? Is that what this thing is called?" Seree asked, turning from the contraption she was closely examining.

"Yeah, I had one in my apartment, didn't you notice?"

"Ah! I was wondering, but this one has moving images and yours didn't do anything. Come to think of it, I think the research and development institute has something like this, is it some sort of communication device?"

"No... Actually, yes, well... Not really."

Seree gave him a questioning look, and Yaso sighed.

"I never thought of how to explain what a television is to someone who's never seen it. Okay, see that there?" He pointed at one of the screens, where a host was grilling a guest with obviously uncomfortable questions, though they couldn't hear anything. "That's happening in a television studio. The image is recorded and sent through the air, and a television can show it." He then stopped for a second. "That's a really crappy explanation."

"Wow." Seree said, pressing her nose against the shop window. "That's amazing."

"Wait, don't you have a cellphone?"

"Eh?"

Yaso took his cellphone out of his pocket and showed it to her.

"Ah! Well..." Seree took hers out of her own pocket, "This is a device for receiving orders from Soul Society, it can also detect hollow, and... Um..."

"Yeah, well, it's a bit like that, except the screen is bigger and it shows images."

"So they can see us too?" She waved at the screen.

"No, it only works one way."

"Hmmmm, I see." She tilted her head slightly, thinking. "That's not very useful then, is it?"

"No, I suppose not. Rots the brain and all that."

They continued their walk, and finally reached Urahara's dingy little shop.

"Oh, welcome, Itou-san, Seree-chan!"

"Hello Urahara-san!" Seree replied enthusiastically, while Yaso gave a rather dry "hi" as his only answer.

"I was wondering when you'd come. Come with me, will ya?"

Urahara showed them to a back room, and then to a trap door leading to a huge room under the house.

"Holy!" Yaso shouted, looking down the hole. "What on Earth is that?"

"It's a room I have for when I need some privacy." He started climbing down the ladder. "Come down please."

"But... I mean... How? I... Just..."

"Come on, Itou-san." Seree called as she, too, started climbing down.

Yaso gave the trapdoor another hard look before finally decided to climb down, and when he finally made it pass the floor the room looked even more massive than he had at first thought. It even had a sky with clouds and everything painted on it, and it looked almost real.

When he reached the ground, he was speechless. Tessai stood besides him, arms crossed and nodding with a satisfied air.

"Yes. That's a proper reaction." He said approvingly.

"Itou-san!" Urahara called, waving.

Yaso looked down at him and realized he had a sword in his hand. It had a straight blade and a guard that folded over the blade itself, ending in a small bend with a decorative crimson tassel hanging from the end. He took an imperceptible step backwards and put his sword within quick reach of his hand, letting the cloth bag slid open over the pommel. He was suddenly quite aware of the positions of everyone around him. Tessai by him, Seree sitting on a rock not far from Urahara with the two brats from the shop.

"No need to be so tense, Itou-san. I just wanted to spar with you for a bit."

"Really."

"Yeah!"

He was smiling and using his most carefree tone of voice. Yaso snapped suddenly to attention when something moved besides him, but it was only Tessai walking away towards Seree. She was sitting quite calmly, and didn't look one bit worried or tense. Neither did the two brats.

_Business as usual?_

"You want to just... Spar with me. Using real swords."

"Well, it's not like we're trying to hurt each other here."

"And why?"

"I'm just wondering, after yesterday's incident I figured I should make sure whether you would be safe if you were attacked again."

"Me? Why would I be attacked? This is none of my business if I recall correctly."

"Aaah, yes that's true. However." Urahara raised his sword and let it rest over his shoulder, and Yaso noticed it was pointing at Seree. Urahara smiled. "Yes, that's right."

"But, I just..." Yaso stopped talking for an instant, giving Urahara a penetrating look. "You sneaky little bast-"

"Ah, please don't be like that, Itou-san."

"Stop jerking me around, what exactly aren't you telling me?"

"Didn't we have this conversation already?"

Urahara pointed his sword at Yaso, and after some hesitation, he sighed and unsheathed his saber.

"I still don't see the point."

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"If I had to protect myself, wouldn't it be better if I use a gun or something?"

"Ooh, I see what you mean. But really..." Urahara grinned, and disappeared in a blur of shunpo. "What good would a gun do to you right now?"

Urahara had spoken right next to Yaso's ear. Half surprised and half scared, he turned around as fast as he could, lashing out with his sword. Urahara parried easily.

"See what I mean?"

"But... Crap, you too? What on Earth?"

"Do you think you could point a gun at an enemy who surprises you like this?"

"And I suppose a sword is better?"

"Yes. Because you're more familiar with it, are you not?" Urahara raised his sword, as if showing it to Yaso. "Would you have known how to attack someone that close with a gun? With your sword, your body has already learned how to move almost on its own, right?"

Yaso took a step back and looked at his saber.

_I suppose he's right._

"But I still don't see why I should do all this. I could just go to the police or something."

"Itou-san, it's really appalling how hard you keep trying to put your safety in other people's hands."

Yaso furrowed his brow, obviously unhappy about that remark. Urahara decided it was the perfect moment to throw a tentative strike at him, and just like that the two of them started fighting.

_Holy crap, this guy's good!_

Yaso tried to keep up with Urahara's attacks. As before, he'd deflect strikes using the guard of his saber, and then try counters. Urahara was always too fast for him, and the way he was pressing was definitely not like someone just doing a bit of friendly fooling around.

When Yaso seemingly started to relax and get into the swing of things, Urahara suddenly did another shunpo and attacked him from the right side. Yaso quickly tried to deflect the strike, but appeared to change his mind mid-movement and jumped backwards, landing in an awkward position.

They looked at each other for an instant, then Yaso quickly stood up. Again, Urahara moved with shunpo, and after his swing, Yaso dodged awkwardly. The third time, there was actually a noise as Benihime hit the blade of Yaso's saber, and right after that he landed with his butt on the ground.

"Tessai-san, is Urahara-san just toying with him?" Seree asked the large man.

"The owner wouldn't do something unnecessary like that."

"But..." She turned to the combatants. "What is he doing then?"

Yaso had lowered his sword and was looking at Urahara with a much less than happy face.

"What on Earth are you doing?"

"Ooh, you noticed! That's good!"

"How wouldn't I?"

"Good. As you say, I was trying to hit your blade, not you. And by the way you've been avoiding it, you realize what it means?"

"Yes, I know a saber has a rather brittle blade, at least compared to a sword like that." He pointed at Benihime. "What's your point?"

"The point is, the idea of a saber and similar weapons is their light weight, they can be used to throw quick ripostes after parrying an enemy's attack. Against a heavier blade..." He raised Benihime "...that's an advantage. But."

"But?"

"But, what happens if the advantage is not enough? Itou-san have you thought for a second your speed was at an advantage over mine?"

Yaso was visibly irritated, while Urahara had lowered his head slightly to give him a knowing look and a half-cocked smile.

_Son of a... He's right, but why does he have to rub my face in it?_

Urahara took his silence as an acknowledgment and nodded. Yaso stood up and dusted himself off while Urahara continued speaking.

"So, I think you should be using a different weapon."

"Like?"

"Ururu-chan!"

Ururu picked up a bundle next to her and ran towards Yaso. She unwrapped it, and presented the contents to him with both hands.

"Here!"

It was a katana. With a red saya, it had a black handle and a red, round, and rather simple looking tsuba.

Yaso didn't move. When Ururu looked up, she saw he had his eyes fixed on the sword and his face looked much more serious than before. It was like a shadow had set on it, making his features rather dark.

"Now, I realize that's a bit different from your saber, but I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in no time." Urahara said, mistaking his hesitation.

"So that's how it is..."

Yaso had murmured so low only Ururu had heard him. He looked up and around the room, then closed his eyes, sighed, and opened them again. Without another word, he just picked up the sheath of his saber, sheathed it, and turned around to leave.

"What the..." Seree started asking.

"Oooh, so you're just going to turn tail, Itou-san?" Urahara took his fan out of his sleeve and covered his mouth. "That's so disappointing."

Yaso stopped dead on his tracks when he heard that. From the back, he appeared to remain motionless for a second, two, three, then suddenly dropped his saber and turned towards Urahara, running at full speed. He snatched the katana from Ururu's hands on his way, nearly knocking her off her feet, and with a fluid movement, unsheathed the sword while attacking Urahara with the same sweep.


	18. Chapter 18

"That wasn't bad at all!" Urahara said cheerfully, smiling. He had blocked Yaso's attack and was holding his blade just a few inches from his hat. "Am I right in thinking you have trained in battōjutsu?"

"Iaidō." Yaso corrected him.

"I see. That should certainly make things easier."

Urahara pushed the blade aside and, ducking under Yaso's guard, he attacked him with a thrust of Benihime. Yaso reacted quickly, deflecting the attack with a fluid downward movement of his sword and a well measured step backwards. He tucked the saya under his belt, and gripped the tsuka with both hands.

Urahara continued pressing him, and seemed to always stay one step ahead of Yaso, even without using shunpo.

"That's really not fair." Seree said, leaning forward and resting her chin on both her hands with the elbows on her legs.

"What isn't?" Tessai asked.

"There's no point in this, even if Itou-san hit Urahara-san, that's just a normal sword, at worst it'd just damage the gigai. I don't understand why he's playing with Itou-san like that."

"Aaah? What are you talking about?" Jinta replied in an annoyed voice. Seree turned to him and saw both him and Ururu were sitting by her and looking at the battle with obvious interest. "The owner wouldn't do something that lame."

"Uh?"

"That's a spiritual sword the owner made." Tessai answered. "It is certainly capable of cutting through spiritual beings."

"That's... an artificial zanpakutō?" Seree turned to the sparring match, looking at Urahara in obvious awe.

"Not exactly, but I suppose that would serve as a description. It does not have a soul like a proper zanpakutō, it is just made with spirit power."

"Wow, that's amazing. Urahara-san is."

"Damn straight." Jinta said, still sounding annoyed.

Back at the match, Yaso was managing to keep Urahara at bay. After some more exchanges leading nowhere, Urahara apparently decided to turn up the pressure, and started using shunpo. On the first one, he attacked Yaso from his left side, to which he responded in the nick of time to avoid a nasty cut; Urahara immediately followed from the right side, and Yaso almost lost his balance having to make a full spin to deflect the attack; as soon as Urahara disappeared again, Yaso turned to prepare for an attack from the left, but his opponent appeared behind him.

And barely managed to dodge Yaso's attack. He had pushed down at the saya under his belt, and with the lever movement, made an upwards slash with it that barely missed Urahara's chin. Yaso followed with a regular horizontal slash, and right after Urahara deflected it, he spun the katana and pushed a thrust towards his face, forcing Urahara to dodge with a backflip when the thrust suddenly extended farther than he anticipated.

"Good! That last trust almost got me, Itou-san." He looked at his katana and saw he had been holding it with only his left hand at the very end of the tsuka. "You left yourself open on purpose on your back, didn't you?"

"Yes. And you still managed to dodge all three counters I had prepared."

"Now, now, don't sound so dispirited. The problem is simply that you still can't follow my shunpo."

"Right." Yaso narrowed his eyes as he looked at Urahara. "I still have no idea how you're doing that trick."

"Oh, it's no trick. Didn't Seree-chan explain it to you?"

"No, she said something about spirit crap-"

***Thunk***

Seree looked around her, and noticed the others had felt that strange pulse too. Jinta and Ururu looked a bit confused, only Tessai seemed like he had some understanding of what had happened.

"Again! Tessai-san, do you know what that was? It's like the third time I've felt that and I have no idea-"

"No."

Dry and to the point. Seree sighed.

"Now, now, Itou-san. Don't say those things." Urahara was waving his fan up and down trying to calm Yaso. "What we need to do is train until you can follow the movement."

"Right." Yaso answered, furrowing his brow.

"And luckily for you, the perfect teacher has volunteered to help."

Urahara started sheathing Benihime, but Yaso interrupted him.

"Wait, what? Are you just going to stop after making me use a katana again?"

"Oh? I just wanted to test you, remember? Since you seem to have a good grasp of swordsmanship we can just skip ahead. Ora, see?"

Yaso turned around to look at where Urahara was pointing, and saw a black cat sitting just a few yards from him. After a fer moments, it was suddenly engulfed into a cloud of steam, and as the cloud dissipated, it revealed a woman standing in its place, dark skinned with golden-colored eyes and purple hair held in a high ponytail. She smirked and looked at Yaso, but he didn't seem to react at all.

"Y-Y-Yoruichi-dono!"

"Ah? Yoruichi-dono?" Yoruichi asked, turning to the voice.

Seree was looking at her with a shocked expression, and when Yoruichi turned, she became even more shocked, blushing considerably. Yoruichi looked at her for a few seconds, then sighed.

"You've been speaking with Suì-Fēng, haven't you?"

"I... Well, yes, I..."

"Well, drop the -dono thing already, will ya?"

"Okay..."

She turned to Yaso and furrowed her brow slightly.

"But really, that's a boring reaction. Does nothing surprise you or what?"

Yaso merely shrugged and turned to Urahara.

"So what's the deal here?"

"Very simple!" Urahara opened his fan and covered his mouth with it. "If you manage to hit Yoruichi with your sword once, you win!"

"What? I'm not fighting an unarmed woman with a sword!"

"Oh?" Yoruichi asked in a deceptively terse tone. "You think I'm just a poor defenseless woman?"

"Well, you're not armed, are you?"

"You're free to hold back if you want. However..." Yoruichi grinned and disappeared in a blur of shunpo, landing a massive elbow hit on Yaso's stomach as she appeared in front of him, sending him tumbling backwards. "I won't."


	19. Chapter 19

Yaso drew in a deep trembling breath and started coughing. Try as he may, he just couldn't remember how he had ended up sprawled on the ground like that.

"Oi, Yaso, get up. Is that all you've got?"

He sat up with some difficulty, clutching his stomach, and looked at the dark skinned woman.

"What on... *cough* Earth... How did you...? Uh..."

"Yoruichi. _Sensei_ to you. Come on, get up."

Yaso struggled to his feet and raised his guard, holding his katana up diagonally at shoulder height.

"Still think I'm just some defenceless woman?" Yoruichi smirked.

She moved forward and disappeared in front of Yaso's eyes at the last second, appearing on his right side and hitting him with her knee on his ribs. Yaso turned, but by then she had disappeared again, this time kicking him from behind. He stumbled forward, regained his footing, and spun at great speed making a wide slash with his sword. For an instant Yoruichi looked as if she had frozen in front of him, but the image disappeared just as the edge of the blade was about to touch her. Yaso blinked in surprise, and then felt something moving just over his head. He didn't have time to react before Yoruichi sent him sprawling again face down with a vertical spinning kick to his back.

"Itou-san!" Seree called.

"There, there, don't sound so worried, Seree-chan," Urahara calmed her, waving with his hand for her to stay seated, "Yoruichi-san knows what she's doing."

"But..."

"Don't worry about that. Now, about this report you gave me..."

"Ah, yes! From Hisagi-san! He has figured out why-"

"Yeah, I read it," Urahara interrupted her, "not to belittle Lieutenant Hisagi, but he may have just jumped to a conclusion a bit too fast."

"But... It fits, doesn't it? The way these hollow look and act, it's like there's several of them in one body. If hollow evolve by eating each other and merging, then it's likely he's right!"

"Seree-chan, that's what I mean, you two are making the facts fit the knowledge you have. Now, if I had the samples I asked for..."

"It can't be helped, Renji is such a hothead," another voice interrupted.

The voice had come from behind Seree, and before she could turn someone grabbed her from behind around her shoulders, placing her head between a rather large pair of knockers.

"L-Lieutenant Matsumoto!" Seree cried out, blushing and pushing away from her.

"He-hee, so formal. Hi there!"

"Rangiku-san, you scared me!" She complained again.

"Hello, and where is Abarai-kun?" Urahara asked, with a big goofy grin on his face.

"Upstairs," Matsumoto answered, pointing towards the ceiling and smiling, "he's going through the list of chores you've left for the freeloaders. Under the close supervision of those two kids, tee-hee."

"But, Rangiku-san, aren't you freeloading here too?"

"My, that's so mean, Seree-chan," Matsumoto complained, with a fake pout on her face, "it can't be helped, Orihime-chan isn't back yet."

"So, what do you think?" Urahara asked Matsumoto.

"I don't know, it sounded okay to me. The way that hollow moved it looked like it was following all of us at once. Kuchiki got the worst of it though. Seree-chan, you did great to get her healed so quick too!"

"Ah, hehehe..." Seree laughed softly, obviously embarrassed, "it was nothing."

They were interrupted by a cry of pain, immediately followed by a loud crash. Yoruichi was standing with her right leg held high and straight, and Yaso was laying on his back in a cloud of dust.

"Itou-san! Are you okay?" Seree called.

"Dammit," he muttered, ignoring her and struggling to his feet. He raised his guard again and charged at Yoruichi.

"Oi, Urahara-san!"

Urahara and the two Shinigami turned, and saw Rukia waving at them with Ichigo on her side, walking towards them. Rukia was back in her gigai and didn't show that she had had a battle just a few hours ago, and Ichigo looked rather annoyed at being there.

"Ah, Kuchiki-san, Kurosaki-kun," Urahara said, waving at them.

"Kurosaki?" Seree asked. "Isn't that..."

"Uagh!" Yaso yelped in pain again and, with another crash, fell rolling almost to their feet, catching everyone's attention. He stayed down on his back, breathing heavily and with his eyes closed in a gesture of pain.

"Itou-san!" Seree cried out, with obvious consternation.

"Ooooh?"

Seree turned around and saw both Matsumoto and Rukia looking at her. They had the most obviously mischievous look on their faces, and badly concealed grins behind their hands.

"W-W-What?" She asked, flustered.

"Itou-saaaan!" Matsumoto called out in a dreamy voice.

"Oh no, Itou-saaaan!" Rukia replied, with exaggerated consternation.

"S-Stop that!" Seree complained, blushing a crimson red and turning away from them.

"Tee-hee, it's okay Seree-chan, don't hold back!" Matsumoto encouraged her.

"Rangiku-san!"

"Now, now, please," Urahara interrupted, not hiding how much he was enjoying the show, "time for some formal introductions? Kurosaki-kun, this is Miyanaga Seree, she's in the Fourth Division of the Gotei. Seree-chan, Shinigami Substitute Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Ah! I am pleased to make your acquaintance," Seree replied, grateful for the distraction.

"Oh, hi," Ichigo answered nonchalantly.

"Hm? Kurosaki? Are you Isshin's kid?" Yaso suddenly asked.

"Oh, yeah," Ichigo answered, looking down at Yaso.

"Ah, you're alive Itou-san, that's good!" Urahara said, with his usual goofy demeanour, "Kurosaki-kun, this is Itou Yaso."

"Yo," Ichigo said.

"Hey," Yaso echoed, "I think I've seen you a couple of times in your father's clinic."

"Yo Ichigo!"

"Oh hi Yoru... Ru... U... Kyaaaaaaargh!" Ichigo suddenly cried, blushing completely and turning away, "c-c-clothes! Put some damn clothes on you werecat woman!"

"Hehe, still as shy as ever. Well then, what about this?"

Her last words had sounded a lot deeper, and when Ichigo turned around, he saw she had turned back into a cat.

"I swear, man... Oh, right," Ichigo looked down at Yaso again, "so you know my father?"

"Yeah, I've been to your clinic several times, I'm in the fencing club two streets over."

"Is that so? I see," Urahara said, adopting an elaborated mysterious air.

"So, what's happening?" Ichigo asked Urahara.

"Hm?"

"Rukia told me you had some business with me, and I just got back from my holidays with my family too! Man, what a drag..."

"Oh, right! I was going to ask you for some help training Itou-san here, but seems like he's got his swordmanship skills already quite well honed, so it wasn't actually necessary."

"What? Tell me earlier! What a waste of time."

"Oh come on, Kurosaki-kun, a bit of help wouldn't hurt, would it?" Urahara said, grinning.

"I don't mind, but at least have a reason to ask, no?"

Urahara noticed Seree was looking at them with an expression of being completely lost.

"Following everything, Seree-chan?"

"Uwah!" She suddenly reacted, as Urahara had put his face only a few inches away from hers, "n-not really."

"Kurosaki-kun has been here several times, you see. He even got his Shinigami powers back once, in that very spot," Urahara pointed at a large hole in the ground. Ichigo looked at him with a puzzled expression, which prompted him to continue, "I'm just giving Seree-chan a bit of info, since she's in the Fourth division she ought to know how these things work. Now, Seree-chan, do you know how to restore a Shinigami's lost powers?"

"Well, let me see... I'm not sure, to be honest. I guess it depends on how they were lost? If the soul sleep or the chain link were damaged perhaps, or... Um..."

"Sheesh, what do they teach in the Fourth Division these days?" Urahara teased her.

"I'm sorry," Seree muttered, looking down embarrassed.

"Now, now, it's okay. When a Shinigami has lost his powers, he will revert to a normal human soul. To transform a normal human soul into a Shinigami, it is necessary to make sure both soul sleep and chain link are awake," as he spoke, and with an almost palpable ***thunk***, there was another strange pulse that all of them felt; Ichigo looked rather surprised, but Urahara merely continued his lecture, "to restore the soul sleep, the soul has to be faced with real danger. I set Kurosaki against Ururu, and when he dodged one of her attacks, his soul sleep was restored."

"Ururu-chan?" Seree giggled.

"Oi, don't laugh, that girl's really scary," Ichigo replied, visibly annoyed.

"But, for that to work..." Seree mused, "isn't that a bit dangerous?"

"Well yes, but if one wants results, it has to be done."

"What if it doesn't work? I mean, if Kurosaki-san isn't..."

"You mean if he didn't have Shinigami powers? Well, in that case... Wheeeeeew."

Urahara made a cheerful pantomime of something flying up to the heavens, which was in sharp contrast with the grim subject they were discussing.

"And what about the chain link?" Seree asked, now following the train with marked curiosity.

"The same thing, really. Cut the chain of fate and let it corrode away. It'll either restore the chain link, or turn the soul into a hollow."

"That's horri... Wait, that could take months!"

_Geez, it's almost scary how quickly she stopped caring and just wanted to speed things up. _Ichigo thought.

"It depends where you cut, doesn't it?"

"Depends? Wait." Ichigo interrupted. "Do you mean we could have done it in more than three days? Why did you..."

"We were in a hurry, remember?" Urahara replied.

Ichigo shut up for a few seconds, then reluctantly nodded.

"I guess so..."

"I think I'll rather ask Captain Unohana for a less dangerous method to do that... Something that doesn't put the soul in such a great danger." Seree said.

There was another ***thunk***, and Ichigo looked around, searching for its origin.

"What was-" He started to ask.

"That's enough rest, don't you think Itou-san?" Urahara said, interrupting Ichigo.

"This sucks," Yaso complained, "other than beating me up, what's the point of this? If you won't even tell me how you're doing that trick, am I supposed to just guess or what?"

Instead of replying, Yoruichi walked towards him, raised her right paw, grinned and, letting the moment linger to really savour it, made a swipe across Yaso's cheek.

"Ayeee!"

Yoruichi laughed, turning back into a woman.

"Enough rest already! You haven't even come close to touching me."

"C-C-C..."

Yoruichi turned to Ichigo, who was pointing at her completely flustered.

"Put some damn clothes on!" He finished.

"Such an innocent boy." Yoruichi muttered as she finished putting her clothes on; a backless and sleeveless black shirt, black stretch pants, beige wrist warmers and sash, and a pair of brown shoes. She was about to put her overshirt on when Yaso replied.

"Well yeah, he's just a kid. He's bound to be easily impressed."

A vein popped on Yoruichi's forehead, and she let go of the orange overshirt. She stood like that for a second, while her reiatsu steadily increased. Everyone but Yaso seemed to want to take a few steps back. He didn't move at all, and looked completely nonplussed.

"You little..." She turned around, with a face of grim determination. She clutched her right fist tightly, and as her reiatsu increased, it started to become visible around her arm, "Shunkō!"


	20. Chapter 20

Yaso raised his guard with his katana held high, while Yoruichi advanced towards him slowly. She finally disappeared with a blur of shunpo, which Yaso expected, but at a speed much higher than before. He didn't even have time to blink before she had landed a powerful punch on his stomach. There was an audible zap, and he reeled back a step, but quickly recovered, slashing down at the very surprised-looking Yoruichi.

For an instant it looked like she had been cut through by the attack, but the image was fast gone, leaving behind a sheet of paper fluttering down. Yaso started to turn to his right, but for a second time he was too slow. Yoruichi's arm was completely covered by her reiatsu now, her punch made an even louder zapping sound.

Yet, Yaso recovered fast again, forcing her to show her mastery to shunpo to escape his counter.

None of them said a word as Yoruichi skidded to a stop a good five meters away from him. His brown eyes held Yoruichi's golden gaze for a long second, while she clenched her fists tightly, raising her reiatsu. It completely enveloped both her arms, arching and blowing away through her back. She squinted, sending a chill up Yaso's spine, and he clenched his sword tightly as he lost sight of her once more.

The result was almost instantaneous. Yoruichi appeared in front of Yaso, and punched him on the stomach. There was a large bang, and a cloud of dust and debris propelled by the explosion that sent Yaso flying back a good ten meters, landing with a loud crash.

"Oh shi..." She muttered, obviously surprised by the realization of what she had just done. "Yaso!"

"Itou-san!" Seree cried out at the same time.

For a few moments, they could barely see him under the cloud dust, but as both Seree and Yoruichi ran towards him, he twitched, coughed, and painfully started to stand up again.

Seree didn't stop. Yoruichi did, with wide and surprised eyes. She turned slightly towards Urahara and looked at him through the corner of her eye. A wordless understanding seemed to pass between them.

"Are you okay?" Seree asked, kneeling next to him.

"Bloody... *cough* Damn..."

Seree held him down and slowly coaxed air back into his lungs, massaging his abdominals and raising his back to stretch the muscles.

"Oh my, that looked painful." Matsumoto said.

"No kidding." Ichigo replied. "Oi Yoruichi, take it easy! You're going to kill him!"

There was no answer.

"Really now." Ichigo said, slightly annoyed.

It took several minutes before Seree let Yaso stand up again. He did so with some difficulty, bending down as he tried to breathe normally.

"Maybe we should stop now." Seree suggested, looking at him. He was covered in scuffs and a few cuts, and more than a few bruises too. Yaso shook his head.

"Not yet."

"But..."

Yaso stood straight and looked at Yoruichi. There was a certain intensity in his gaze, but it wasn't anger; if Seree had to put a word to it, it would be a scrutinizing look. He was looking _for_ something. That same look he had given her a couple of times.

She turned to Yoruichi, and she was holding his gaze quite steadily. But she wasn't smiling anymore.

"Let's continue." She finally said, motioning with her head for Seree to step aside.

She returned to where the rest were, trying not to look back as the sound of battle resumed. When she finally looked, she noticed Yoruichi was no longer using Shunkō.

"My, that was scary!" Urahara said in an easy tone, aimed at easing Seree's worries.

She nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Come on now, Seree-chan." Matsumoto tried to cheer her, mussing her hair. "Don't look so glum."

"Yes..."

"Anyway." Ichigo interjected. "Urahara-san, if you don't need me, I'll just..."

"Actually!" He cheerfully added, raising his hand with one finger held up. "There is something else. Did Kuchiki-san mention to you what's happening?"

"Eh? Not really."

"Well, in that case, Seree-chan, would you mind explaining?"

"Ah? Explain?"

"About your mission and the hollow, of course!"

"Oh! Right. Erm..."

She looked at Ichigo and hesitated, but Urahara seemed one step ahead of her again.

"Kurosaki-kun is the Shinigami Substitute of Karakura town, so it'd be best if he was fully informed you see."

"Okay. Let's see." She thought for a few moments, putting her thoughts in order, then finally nodded to herself. "This whole thing started back in Soul Society with a hollow attack..."

In the meantime, Yoruichi seemed to be getting back into the swing of things, and had recovered her cocky grin. Yaso was still bewildered by her movements. After a bad step from Yaso, she took a step back to talk to him.

"Yaso, do you know what the definition of insanity is?"

He looked surprised for a second, but then his expression turned darker. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at Yoruichi, but didn't speak. She took it as her cue to continue.

"It's doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result."

She charged at him once more, and as he took a defensive stance, she dove low and knocked him off his feet with a circular sweep. Yaso spun as he propelled himself off the ground, trying to catch Yoruichi unprepared with a vertical swipe, but she reacted well, and made a short shunpo to dodge the attack. Yaso's expression was of surprise when Yoruichi sent him tumbling with a knee to the side.

_That... _He tried to replay the image in his head as he stood up. _I could swear the dust moved when she disappeared._

Yoruichi looked at Yaso as he stood up and readied his guard again. He held his katana low, closed his eyes for a few seconds while he steadied his breath, then sheathed the weapon. When he looked at her, his gaze seemed to be fixed at some indeterminate point behind her. He put his right foot forward, bending the knees and with his right hand hovering over the tsuka of his katana.

She smiled.

_That's a good look.  
><em>

"And so, right now we're trying to find out what's happening with the hollow, and who that Shinigami was." Seree finished her explanation.

"I see." Ichigo answered. "And he's the only one who's seen him close?"

"I couldn't get a good look." Seree answered in an apologetic tone. "But I can definitely recognize his reiatsu if we come across again."

"Still, that's not that useful."

"What do you mean?" Rukia asked, recognizing his tone; he was thinking of something.

"Well, don't you have an archive with all the Shinigami back in Soul Society? If he can recognize his face..."

"Oh right." Seree answered, nodding. "We've sent a description back, Lieutenant Hisagi was going to look into it."

"Why not have him look? You could send him to Soul Society with a Spirit Exchanger, couldn't you?" Ichigo shrugged.

"Ah, well, I kinda haven't told them yet that we've got him, well, involved, hehehe..." Sheree laughed softly, slightly embarrassed, scratching the back of her head.

"Man." Ichigo answered, with a look of confusion. "You guys seem to like getting into trouble, don't you?"

"Oooh, it's getting interesting now." Urahara interrupted them, leaning forward.

Everyone else turned to the combatants, and saw that Yaso was standing with his katana sheathed but at the ready, and Yoruichi seemed to be preparing to make a move too. The moment dragged on, but neither of them appeared to be nervous in the slightest, waiting the other out.

Finally, it was Yoruichi who made her move. She used shunpo to attack Yaso from his left, but even before she appeared again Yaso had started moving, taking a fast step back with his left foot and unsheathing the katana. It was a good attack, forcing Yoruichi to duck and lose the initiative. She threw a punch as Yaso's guard opened with the inertia of his slash, but he answered by lowering his own right arm even as the inertia would have made it impossible for him to attack with the sword. In the clash of arms, Yoruichi was the fastest in reacting for the next step, and as she pulled him back and made him lose his footing, she ducked and raised her right leg, hooking around his chest and sending him crashing down with her boot on his ribcage.

Yaso yelped in pain, then put both arms across his chest, with a gesture of intense pain.

"Good! You're finally using your head." Yoruichi said, after moving back with a backflip. The dark skinned woman was about to continue talking when she suddenly felt something coming from behind. She turned quickly, but it was merely Seree passing by her with shunpo after jumping out of her gigai, and landing by Yaso again.

"Itou-san!"

He didn't answer, Seree pulled his arms back and felt his chest. Yaso grunted.

"That's cracked I think. Yoruichi-san!" She sounded angry as she turned her head. "That's enough, isn't it?"

"Oh?" She replied, smirking. "You giving up, Yaso?"

"Yoruichi-san!"

Seree stood up and turned to her, and imperceptibly her hand crept towards her sword. Without missing a beat, Yoruichi disappeared in a blur of shunpo, and before Seree had her sword halfway drawn, she knocked her down with a sweep and held her with a knee on her chest. She threw a punch to her face, but as Seree closed her eyes she stopped her fist just short, and merely gave her a flick on her forehead.

"Silly girl. I know we're done."

_Wow, she's fast! I... Wait, what the heck was I doing?_

"I-I'm sorr.."

"Ah? What's that?" Yoruichi interrupted, extending her hand to help her up and smiling.

Seree hesitated for a second, then reached for her hand and allowed herself to be helped up. When she was finally up, she smiled back at Yoruichi.

She was considerably more embarrassed when she saw Matsumoto and Rukia looking at her and giggling.

_What a pain..._

It was already dark when Yaso and Seree left towards his apartment. Urahara and Yoruichi were outside the shop saying their farewells.

"Don't forget, same time tomorrow Itou-san!" Urahara called, but got only a wave as an answer as the two of them walked off.

"You really overdid it, didn't you?" Urahara said, covering his mouth with his fan.

"Hmpf! He had it coming, cheeky little sod. But you're not one to talk." Yoruichi replied in a feisty tone. "You got him all worked up like that with just a single phrase."

"Now, now, that was just a cheap taunt." Urahara answered, remembering how Yaso had finally attacked him when told he was just running away. "I didn't expect such a reaction!"

"Right."

"So." Urahara's tone suddenly changed to a serious one, and he fixed his eyes on Yoruichi from under his striped hat. "How was it?"

"Weird." She raised her right hand, looking at her clenched fist. "I was holding back a lot, even weak Shunkō can seriously harm a normal human. The only reason I tried it was because I trust you."

"And?"

"It was just weird. The first attack just... Did nothing. It was very strange, like it had disappeared. I tried harder..."

"And it finally worked?"

"No, the third one was definitely a hit but... I honestly thought I had killed him, I got so caught up I held back less than I wanted. But he got up."

"How?"

"I don't know." She clenched her fist tightly, and looked at Urahara. "I hit _something_, I'm sure of that. I have no idea how he stood up like that."

Urahara was looking at Yoruichi, but said nothing.

"What are you thinking of?"

"It's still too early to tell." Urahara replied, looking away in the direction Yaso and Seree had gone.

"Don't give me that. You must have some theory by now."

"A few."

"Let's hear them, then."


	21. Chapter 21

"We're almost there, Itou-san."

Seree helped Yaso walk up the stairs to his apartment. When they reached the door, it opened before she had finished fumbling with the keys. Hanatarō looked at them for a few moments, with obvious surprise. Seree was holding Yaso upright, struggling under his weight and having to carry his two weapons too, and he was covered in bandages, band-aids and patches, his clothes stained with dirt and even some blood.

"Ah! Itou-san! Miyanaga-san! What happened?"

"Yamada-san! Ah, nothing, nothing, don't worry. Itou-san had a bit of a run-on with Yoruichi-san, and, eh-hehehe, well..."

"That woman..." Yaso said with a dull voice. "She's a demon."

"Ah, right! Eh, don't let her hear you say that, Itoru-san!" Hanatarō replied, looking somewhat uncomfortable with the conversation.

"Are you okay?" Seree asked Yaso, as he disengaged himself from her and headed for the bathroom with an uneasy step.

"Yeah, it's fine. I need a bath."

"Right! I'll have dinner ready when you come out, Itou-san!" Seree replied cheerfully, raising her voice as Yaso closed the door to the bathroom. "I'll change your bandages afterwards too!"

"Um, Miyanaga-san..."

"Yes?"

"I kinda have brought dinner already." He pointed at the counter, where three bento boxes were neatly stacked. "The owner always lets me buy the leftover bento very cheap, eh-hehehe."

"Owner?" Seree asked, curious, while examining the food and poking the plastic cover. "Wow, these are very neatly packed."

"Yeah, I have a part-time job at a convenience store here. It's very nice! Miyanaga-san, you should come sometime, these stores are like nothing we have in Soul Society! They have all these... Um... Is something wrong?" He asked, his train of thought derailed by the look Seree was giving him.

"Yamada-san..." Seree answered, with a dubious look on her face. "Is that where you have been today all day?"

"Ah, hehehe, well, kinda..."

"We had a hollow attack! And Kuchiki-dono was injured! And I had to take care of her all by myself! And..."

"Waaah? Rukia-san was? That's terrible! Is she okay?"

"Rukia... san?" She sighed. "As expected from our seventh seat, you're in such friendly terms with someone from the Kuchiki family..."

"Ah, nononono! It's nothing like that!" He waved both his hands in front of her face at furious speed. "Rukia is nothing like that! She's very nice, and didn't like it when I called her Rukia-sama, and... Well, that's it really." He scratched the back of his head embarrassedly.

"I see."

"Is she okay then? She's very nice, isn't she?"

"Yes, she is. And she's okay. Still... I can't think of addressing her with such familiarity, she's the sister of Captain Kuchiki." She grew quiet, but after a few seconds she slapped her face with both hands lightly and assumed a determined look. "Right! Anyway, time to prepare dinner, I'll make at least some nice warm soup to go with the bento. Now where..."

She suddenly stopped searching the kitchen and looked around. Both kitchen and living room were in the same space, and she suddenly realized it was all neat and clean.

"Yamada-san? Did you clean the apartment when you came back? I was in the middle of cleaning it when Itou-san came back, and had to leave it like that."

"Ah, yes! I was wondering what had happened. I hope I put everything back in its proper place..." He looked at Seree, and saw she had her eyes fixed on one of the cabinets. "Is something wrong?"

Without answering, she walked very softly to the bathroom door and put her ear to it.

"Miyanaga-san?"

She wordlessly gestured for Hanatarō to stay quiet. After making sure Yaso was not coming out anytime soon, she tiptoed to the cabinet, and opened the drawer under the glass doors. There was the trophy Yaso had taken from her hands and tossed aside.

_Japanese Kendo Association National Tournament. Cadet II. First Place._

"Huh. Why?" She muttered, then put the trophy back in its forgotten place.

"What was that?" Hanatarō asked her softly when she got back into the kitchen.

"No, nothing. Nevermind. I wonder if Itou-san has katsuibushi to make soup..."

"Ah! They actually have an amazing invention here called instant soup, you open this satchel with some magic powder inside and it turns into soup when you put it in water, it's great! I think I saw some when I was cleaning..."

When Yaso finally dragged himself out of the bathroom, the dinner was ready. He had put some clean clothes, but had removed most of his bandages and patches. He looked ready to pass out too.

"How are you feeling?" Seree asked him.

"Hrm." He mumbled. "I'm going to bed..."

"Wait! You shouldn't go to sleep without eating something. Come, dinner's ready."

He looked in the direction of Seree and saw she had covered the small kitchen table with a surprisingly tasty-looking spread. He sighed, nodded, but went to the kitchen counter instead. He took something Seree didn't see from one of the drawers, and when he sat at the table she realized he had just taken a pill of some sort. He gulped it noisily, and slowly took his chopsticks.

She was expectant when he took his first sip of the miso soup.

"How is it?" She couldn't resist asking.

"Nice." He muttered.

"What happened with Yoruichi-san? I mean..." Hanatarō asked with a cautious tone of voice.

"She's so mean!" Seree answered spiritedly. "It was supposed to be training for Itou-san, but all she did was beat him up! She's just a bully, and that's all there is to it. If she thinks I'm going to let her beat up Itou-san again tomorrow she better..."

She quieted down when she noticed Hanatarō looking rather uncomfortable, looking at her and at Yaso alternatively. When she turned, she saw Yaso was eating his food with a rather gloomy expression.

_Crap! I have such a big mouth!_

"Ah-haha, Itou-san! I didn't mean... I mean... I didn't..."

"It's fine." He answered in a flat voice, prompting a fairly uncomfortable silence. Seree was very aware of all his movements for the reminder of the dinner, but he didn't say anything else until he was finished.

"I'm going to bed." He stood up, then looked at them. "Thank you."

"Ah, it's no problem, Itou-san." Hanatarō answered.

"Wait, Itou-san." Seree replied, standing up.

"Seree, I'm really tired, what..."

"No, it's okay, I'll just dress your wounds." She pointed at her Fourth Division kit and a small basin. "You can just lay down on your bed, right?"

Yaso opened his mouth to protest, then seemingly thought better of it and merely sighed.

"Okay. Thanks." He murmured.

Seree took his shirt off as he sat on his bed, then put a two cold patches on two large bruises on Yaso's back.

"Okay, you can lay down now."

"Oi, what are you..."

"Ah, stop struggling Itou-san, I have to dress the wounds on your legs too." She chastised him, pulling at his pants.

"But..."

"I do this all the time back at the relief station. Come, don't be silly."

"Huh. You're a doctor?"

"Well, healing patients is part of my duties, so I guess you could say that."

Yaso looked rather unconvinced by the explanation, but quickly gave up.

_Whatever, I'm just too tired._

Seree sat down on a stool next to his bed, after giving him a quick visual examination, then carefully explored the larger bruise on his chest. Yaso winced in pain, but didn't quite say anything.

"I don't think it's a broken rib, but it's probably cracked a bit. Does it hurt much?"

Yaso mumbled something unintelligible. Seree proceeded to wash the scratches and cuts as she changed the few bandages Yaso had left on them, and putting new dressings on all the wounds.

_That's a nasty cut on the shoulder, I better clean it thoroughly._

"Itou-san, this may sting a little."

Again, Yaso mumbled, but barely did anything when Seree peeled off the dried blood and cleaned the wound. She bandaged it firmly, and last started cleaning the cat scratch Yoruichi had given him on the cheek. Her eyes betrayed the fact that her mind was wandering off.

"I'm sorry we're causing you so much trouble." She finally said.

"S'okay... ot your... st in my head..."

She could barely make the words Yaso was mumbling. She nearly shook him awake, but thought better of it.

"What's in your head, Itou-san?"

He just mumbled. Seree looked at him for a few seconds, then gently placed an adhesive plaster on the cat scratch. As she passed her thumb carefully over it, she caressed his cheek with her hand.

_He looks so... different when he's asleep. He looks so intense when he's awake, and now he's just..._

Her hand had found its place on Yaso's cheek, while her thumb caressed him gently. It felt warm, and peaceful. His breathing slowed down as he plunged into deep slumber, a gentle whisper barely audible in the silent room. Seree felt her own face warming up.

_If only you had this face all the time, Itou-san. There's so much I want to know about you._

She didn't know how long she had stayed like that when she pulled her hand back and, with sudden resolution, clenched her fist and nodded to herself.

_Let's do it!_

She placed her left hand over her right wrist and, opening her right hand, she held it in front of her over Yaso's chest. A small sphere of flickering reiatsu appeared in front of her open palm. She furrowed her brow as she concentrated, but with a flicker, the light suddenly disappeared.

_Dammit! Okay, calm down. Calm down. You can do it._

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them and tried again. The light was more intense this time as she concentrated. There was a flicker, but she managed to keep the light alive. She could almost feel some resistance, then suddenly the reiatsu vanished. The feedback hit her hand like an insect sting. She clenched her fist and winced.

_What was that? I could almost feel something. Okay, okay, recap. At the most basic level, healing works by replenishing the soul's reiatsu, then using both that reiatsu and my own to repair the body. _She looked at Yaso's face. _But I just can't feel Itou-san's reiatsu, even for a human, it's just so tiny._

She raised her hand again, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

_Concentrate. You have to feel his reiatsu. Concentrate. Concentrate..._

Her reiatsu started to form a sphere in front of her palm. Small, barely glowing at all.

_There's the resistance. Don't push. Gently. Gently now._

Seree let her reiatsu abate, then raised it again. Back and forth, she swayed with the resistance she felt coming from Yaso's soul, as gently as she could. She lost all sense of time as she focused on the task, until finally there was something else. Past the resistance, she could almost feel something else.

_That's his soul, I'm sure of it. Easy, girl. Easy._

She gave a small push with her reiatsu, and the response was an overwhelming feeling of pain. She recognized the feeling, the same feeling those strange pulses she had felt before. She reacted by instinct, pushing hard with her kidō. The response was instantaneous, increasing the resistance and blocking her healing kidō. The pain was even more intense, she pushed harder and harder, until finally her kidō vanished with an almost audible zap that sent her tumbling backwards from her stool, rolling on the floor until she hit the wall. She clenched her right fist tightly and grabbed it with her left hand, fighting hard to contain a shout of pain.

_Dammit all! That freaking hurts!_

She looked at Yaso from her precarious position on the floor. He was still sleeping peacefully, like nothing had happened. She stood up with some difficulty, placed the stool next to Yaso's bed again, and raised her trembling right hand over his chest.

Try as she may, all that happened was her healing kidō disappeared. Every single time. She never felt that resistance again.

She felt like she had missed a chance, just didn't know a chance for what exactly. With a sigh, she stood up and quietly left the room.

"Is everything okay, Miyanaga-san?" Hanatarō asked, looking at her downcast face. "You look very glum."

"No." She sighed again. "I'm going to bed. Are you sure you're okay on the sofa, Yamada-san?"

"Ah, sure it's no problem. Have a good sleep."

_Sigh, I don't think I will. Way to screw up, Seree._

Less than half a second after the door had closed, Seree opened it again and walked out.

"Yamada-san, can you do me a favour?"

"Ah? What is it?"

She motioned him to approach and pointed at Yaso's room. Several minutes later, they walked out of it again.

"I'm sorry Miyanaga-san. I don't understand why nothing will work."

"Ah, it's okay, thank you very much for trying." Seree replied, smiling.


	22. Chapter 22

It was a chilly morning in the Court of Pure Souls. Two Shinigami walking along the outer wall were about to finish their rounds, after a long sleepless night.

One of them, tall and lanky with dark and messy hair, was yawning desperately. His much shorter and stockier companion reprimanded him.

"Hey now, do you want the Lieutenant to see you like that?"

"It can be helped, Washi..." He yawned again, interrupting his speech. "I need mah sleep."

"Don't be a lazy bum."

The tall one tripped and fell flat on his face in the middle of a yawn, hitting the pavement with a dull thud. His companion merely shook his head and kept walking.

"Aw man..."

He rubbed his forehead and looked up, and as he did, it seemed to him that the world was stretching out in front of his eyes, propelling his companion far into the distance. He blinked heavily and looked around, and the wall to his right seemed to compress and expand in a most strange fashion.

"Hey Hansuke, whatcha waiting for?"

When Washi turned around, he saw his companion was sitting on the floor with his back to the outer wall, and his face was ghostly pale.

"Hansuke!"

Washi rushed back to his companion, and managed to shake him back to reality.

"The heck's wrong with you?"

"I... Uh... Is that wall..."

"Whatcha talking about?" Washi answered, looking at the wall. "There's nothing there. You all right man?"

Hansuke would have undoubtedly felt better if he had seen how the distortion was apparently making its way across the maze of streets of the outer court. Before he had recovered, several members of the Onmitsukidō suddenly appeared around them.

"The heck?" Washi called, looking around him.

"What happened?" The leader of the group asked.

"What? Nothing, this dumbass fell on his face, what's going on?"

"There was an alert about an anomaly on the outer wall around here. Have you seen anything suspicious?"

"Eh? Really?" Hansuke asked, with far too obvious relief in his voice. "Heck, I thought I had screwed up my head!"

After a brief description of the oddities, the Onmitsukidō left at full speed to report, while the two Shinigami legged it back to their barracks at a lesser full speed.

"The heck's wrong with you? You could've said something instead of looking like a dumbass there." Washi said as they ran, visibly annoyed.

"Shut up, you should've seen that, right after smacking my head on the floor, I thought I had bloody broken something in here." Hansuke replied as he tapped his head.

They arrived at the 9th division crashing through the gate.

"Lieutenant Hisagi!"

A few minutes later, dozens of Shinigami left in apparent disarray, spreading around the court in no time while going in pairs and looking for any signs of something matching the strange description Hansuke had given them.

"Shall I raise the alarm, Lieutenant?"

"Not yet." Hisagi answered, getting ready to leave himself. "I'll send a butterfly if we find something. Stay here and be ready."

"Yes sir!"

Hisagi rushed out and, jumping from walltop to walltop, he made towards the center of the court.

_I need a high spot to see everything. This place's huge._

Even though he had sent most of his division out to cover the court, it was very hard to really investigate every nook and cranny. And the only way to spot the strange phenomenon was when it was moving. Usually that happened when they gave its back to it and went running in a different direction.

"What's going on?"

"Ah, Lieutenant Kurotsuchi." The Shinigami greeted her. He was talking with a newcomer at the gates of the 12th division headquarters. "There's a report of some unusual activity from the 9th division." He pointed at the newcomer, who looked at her and nodded.

After a short explanation, Nemu was up to speed with the events. She gave no outward signs of worry or lack of understanding.

"Very well, I shall inform Mayuri-sama. We will find this so called spatial disturbance."

"Thank you Lieutenant." The 9th division Shinigami replied, quickly leaving for his next target.

It wasn't long before all the important places in the court had been properly informed. While his men searched high and low for they didn't know what, Hisagi perched himself atop the Sōkyoku Hill, looking down. The court looked like an ant's nest, and his men looked like the ants themselves.

_Waka waka waka..._

He chuckled. No, it wasn't the time for silly jokes. His eyes darted here and there, and a few times he thought he had caught a glimpse of something, but it was never confirmed.

_This won't do. If it's something so subtle, I can't just look around in a panic._

He relaxed, slowly fixing his eyes at a point in the center of his field of vision of the court.

_Don't move the eyes. Relax. Wait for some movement._

His peripheral vision kept distracting him with the movements of his own men, until he finally got used to it and started ignoring the black dots darting around. He spent several minutes like that.

_There! The Archives!_

There had been a distortion of some sort right at the wall of the archive building. He jumped down and darted as fast as his shunpo would carry him towards the archive, shouting instructions to any Shinigami he came across to follow him. Some weren't even in his division, but they all recognized the tone of urgency.

Inside, the guards were on full alert, and they were patrolling all the rooms without a break, running between the rows and rows of bookshelves and records.

"This is really creepy."

Two Shinigami were in one of the larger rooms, rows upon rows of bookshelves lined next to each other in the dead quiet darkness.

"You're still going on about that? Get a grip."

"Yeah yeah." He hushed his companion. "Wait, did you hear that?"

They rushed along to the other side of the room, but there was nothing. Only a row of empty tables with chairs, to be used by readers that weren't there.

"I'm sure I heard something."

"Your imagination, either that or it was a ghost, right?"

"Not funny, dude."

"Ah?" He replied in a dismissive tone, turning and walking towards the other side of the room. "You're the one who finds it creepy, maybe you're sensitive to them or something."

He turned, smirking, but his smirk froze in his face when he saw his companion was nowhere to be found.

"Kuya?"

No answer.

"Come on dude, _this_ ain't funny."

Silence. He walked cautiously towards where he had last seen his friend. Looking left and right, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Weird, isn't this room smaller on this end?"

He didn't even have time to scream when his talking was interrupted.

At the entrance, Hisagi rushed and kicked the door to the building open.

"Spread out! Stay in pairs, and call if you find anything!"

"Yes sir!"

The Shinigami ran through the corridors creating a pandemonium of crashing noises and shouts. One of them quickly found something.

"Lieutenant! Come here!"

It was just a few seconds before Hisagi arrived. In one of the larger rooms, two of his men were standing in front of two dead bodies. One had been cut down by a sword. The other... Hisagi managed to keep himself from throwing up. One of the others wasn't so lucky, and had to leave the room at full speed, trying to hold back his breakfast.

"What the..." His thoughts were interrupted by a crashing sound and a quickly silenced cry of pain. "Let's go!" Hisagi ordered, disappearing in a shunpo too fast for the other Shinigami to follow.

He didn't have any trouble following the battle. There were so many Shinigami about, anyone trying to escape would have to cut down several of them before being able to do so. And whoever the intruder was, he was managing to do just that at an alarmingly fast rate.

"Mizaki!" Hisagi called, recognizing his subordinate.

"Lieutenant! What's going on?"

"Send a butterfly and raise the alarm! We have an intruder! Archives have been compromised, go!"

"Yes sir!"

Hisagi was long gone by the time Mizaki had managed to answer. Once he was outside, he had an even easier time following the intruder. It was very strange, it was as if a bubble of space was eating everything around it as it passed, spitting it out unharmed behind it. Except when it engulfed a Shinigami. Whatever was in that bubble would make quick work of them without even slowing down.

"Out of the way!" Hisagi called; overtaking the intruder, he ran in front of it with a backwards step. "Hadō thirty-one, Red Fire Cannon!"

No effect. The spell crashed on the space where the distortion was, but didn't do a thing to it.

_Dammit we're reaching the outer wall, I have to stop..._

"Hisagi-san!"

Hisagi turned. Isane was running towards him, waving her arm. Out the corner of his eye, he saw the distortion change direction, and move straight towards her.

"Kotetsu! Watch out!"

It was the longest fraction of a second he could remember. He was racing against an invisible enemy Isane didn't even know how to recognize. He managed to reach her right after the distortion did, and without hesitation he pushed her out of the way. She moved out less than a blink before the distortion suddenly expanded, spitting out the space it had devoured. Hisagi saw the space expand, and his own sliced arm apparently moving away from him without even actually moving, held fast onto Isane's shoulder.

He crashed on the ground screaming in pain. Isane rolled back and quickly stood up, reaching for her katana. In the background, the chorus of the alarms beating was almost deafening. Then she saw him.

There was someone standing between her and Hisagi. Something fell down her shoulder, but she didn't pay attention. It wasn't until much later that she realized it was Hisagi's arm.

"Hisagi-san!"

They suddenly felt a tremendous reiatsu closing in at great speed, and in a blink, the intruder had disappeared in front of Isane's eyes. Something weird happened to the outer wall of the court, and that was it.

"What happened? Where did the intruder go?"

"Captain Hitsugaya!" Isane nearly shouted in her excitement. "He disappeared! Hisagi-san! Hang on!"

"Disappeared? How?"

"Hisagi-san!"

_Man, what a pain_. Tōshirō thought.

When Hisagi came to, he didn't recognize where he was at first, or remember what had happened. He was in bed, in a strange room.

"Hisagi-san, you're awake!"

He turned and saw Isane sitting on a chair next to his bed.

_Right, Fourth Division headquarters._

"What... Oh!"

He raised his right arm, and while it was covered in bandages and hurt like the devil, it was still there.

"Don't move too much, Hisagi-san. The captain fixed it nicely, but it'll hurt for a while."

He dropped his arm with a sigh.

"I can't believe I messed up this badly."

"What? I'm sorry Hisagi-san, it was my fault." Isane lowered her gaze, looking somewhat uncomfortable. "I'm sorry. And... Thank you for saving me."

Hisagi merely nodded and sighed, closing his eyes.

"Hisagi-kun is here? Oooh, hi Isane!"

"Rangiku-san!" Isane replied, looking at the woman standing at the doorframe.

Hisagi opened his eyes suddenly, smiling inwardly. He sat up on bed and waved with his good hand at her.

_Rangiku!_

"Weren't you in the real world?" Isane asked, curious, as Matsumoto walked in.

"I just got back, I'm off again tomorrow afternoon. It's such a pain! The Captain made me come back for today's move. But really I can't leave you guys alone for two days! How are you feeling Hisagi-kun? I heard you were wounded." She asked in a playful tone.

"I'm fine, they fixed me up right away. See?" He asked, raising his arm and pumping his fist to demonstrate.

"Aah, that's so nice! Nice work, Isane!"

"Hehe, thanks but it was the Captain who did it."

"So is it actually fixed? Or does he need to rest or something?"

"Well, it should be fine, but it'll probably hurt for a few days."

"It's not like it'll fall of if he, like, lifts a heavy box or something like that?"

"No, no, that's fine." Isane replied, smiling, then suddenly lost her smile. "Wait, why..."

"Whew! For a second I was worried there. You still going to help me out today then?"

"Hm?" Hisagi muttered, slightly surprised.

"We're moving some of our old papers to the archive today, and you promised you'd help." Matsumoto replied, making a pouty face :3

"Ah! Sure, no..."

"Wait a minute, Hisagi-san needs to rest!" Isane protested.

"Ara, but you said he's fine."

"Yes, but..."

"Come on, Hisagi-kun, let's go!"

"Rangiku-san." Isane protested.

Matsumoto ignored her, and grabbed Hisagi by his reattached arm, trying to pull him out of bed. Hisagi winced in pain, but said nothing. Instead, he started to actually get out of bed.

"Rangiku-san!"

"What?" She asked, with a perfectly innocent voice.

"That's enough! Hisagi-san isn't leaving!"

Undeterred, Matsumoto smiled and spurred Hisagi again. Suddenly Isane stood up and swatted Matsumoto's arm.

"OUT! GET OUT! RIGHT NOW!"

With a very loud and extremely girlish "kyaaaaa" Matsumoto fled the room. Hisagi looked in amazement at Isane's back, she was breathing heavily and looked like she had grown two sizes. No small feat, that. He couldn't remember ever seeing her angry.

Two heads peeked from the other side of doorframe, looking first inside the room, then in the direction Matsumoto was running. As if she had suddenly realized what she had done, Isane put a hand to her mouth and started blushing. She slowly turned to Hisagi, but he had closed his eyes and was laying down on bed again.

"I think I'll have some more sleep." He said.

Isane looked at him and smiled. She was still blushing.


	23. Chapter 23

"Carriage of Thunder. Bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six! Bakudō Sixty-one, Six-Rod Light Restraint!"

Rukia pointed two fingers at the beast, and a sextet of beams of light slammed around the body of the hollow. It screamed in agony, but it managed to move neither its wings, nor its root-like appendages, no more than a slight tremor anyway as it tried to force the spell away.

"Now!" She cried out.

An instant later, Seree appeared in a blur of shunpo. She stabbed the hollow with the sample gatherer she had gotten from Urahara, and held it in place as it quickly filled itself. The hollow screamed again in pain, and one of the rods of light shattered under its powerful effort.

"Howl, Zabimaru!"

Seree forced herself to stay in place as the root of the hollow aimed for her head, making sure the sample was collected. Instants before she was hit, Zabimaru cut through the root, keeping her safe. Just a few seconds more and she pushed away, disappearing with shunpo.

"Kurosaki-san!" She shouted.

"Right!" Ichigo raised Zangetsu, and his reiatsu climbed precipitously, materializing around his blade in a blue coloured light. "Getsuga Tenshō!"

The potent blast sliced through the hollow without giving it a chance to free itself, and its body quickly dissolved away in a shower of spirit particles.

"All right! I hope Urahara-san will be happy with this." Seree exclaimed, looking at the vial she was holding. She pulled at her Fourth Division pack, and placed the vial inside.

"Good job, Seree-chan." Rukia said, as they came together after the battle.

"Ah, hehehe." She scratched the back of her head embarrassedly. "Thank you, Kuchiki-dono."

"Oi Rukia, what's with the girl?" Ichigo asked, pointing at Seree with his thumb.

_Grrr, it still annoys me that the Substitute is so familiar with the Kuchiki family! I don't care how strong he is!_

"That's the proper way to address someone of the Kuchiki family." She shrugged. "I'd rather she didn't, but I can hardly argue, that's how she addresses Nii-sama as well."

"You should take example instead of criticizing me, Kurosaki-san!" She replied, annoyed. "How can you address someone of the noble Kuchiki family with such familiarity? I can only imagine what Captain Kuchiki..."

"What, Byakuya? He's a bit of a stiff, but he's a good sport."

Seree's face turned red as her annoyance boiled up. Rukia decided it was a good time to change subjects.

"That's the third one today. So far we've had a few oddities but nothing too difficult."

"Yeah, I was surprised to be honest." Ichigo answered, placing Zangetsu on his shoulder. "These hollow seem to do rather weird stuff. It'd be a lot easier if we didn't have to take samples though."

"Can't be helped, we need to figure out what's happening with them." Rukia looked at Seree. "Have you heard anything from Soul Society about this morning's attack?"

"Nothing else, only that Lieutenant Hisagi is recovering well."

The relief in her voice was obvious. Rukia raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly.

"You must be relieved."

"Yes, of course! I..."

When she looked at Rukia, she saw the small Shinigami was again grinning evilly. She could almost swear she had grown a pair of fox ears.

"Kuchiki-dono!"

"Aaaah, it's okay Seree-chan. I won't say anything to Itou-san."

"I... But... It's not..." Seree's speech came fragmented as she got progressively more flustered, until Rukia broke out laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, it's just a joke girl. But really, how is it going with him?"

"Ah! Well..." Seree fidgeted nervously and looked away. "I let him sleep this morning, he was so beaten up yesterday that I thought I shouldn't wake him up."

"Hm, won't he be late for his work?"

"Work? I don't know."

"Seree-chan." Rukia shook her head, disapprovingly. "You haven't talked about anything like that with him, have you?"

"Not really..."

"Okay, listen up."

Rukia stood upright, raising her hand with one finger pointing up, assuming a lecturing pose. Seree quickly searched her bag, and produced a small notepad and pencil, kneeling on the ground and ready to take notes.

"In the real world, the economic fabric of society necessitates that every household have a stable source of income."

Seree nodded, with a very serious expression, and furiously scribbled on her pad.

"For this end, there is always at least one person in each household with a job, typically a stable one that they attend five to seven days a week. It is a common topic of conversation between humans, and as such you should make it part of your exchanges with Itou-san, if you are to ingratiate yourself with him in a way that would be appropriate to the human world."

Seree kept nodding and taking notes. Ichigo looked at them like they had lost their minds.

"What..." He started asking.

"Oh, what do you think Ichigo? I have learned the customs of the real world pretty well, haven't I?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He finished in a flat tone.

A beeping interrupted them. The three Shinigami turned towards Renji, who was fiddling with his cellphone.

"If you three are done, we've got another signal."

"Another? Man, what a drag." Ichigo complained. "Is it one of these weird hollow again?"

"Only one way to find out." Renji answered, pocketing the phone and running away.

When they arrived at the place where the signal had come from, they saw a Shinigami trying to fight a monster that seemed like the unholy child of a bear, a snake, and a centipede. It had a long body covered in scales, and about a hundred furry legs paddling furiously as it chased its useless opponent. The Shinigami had a huge mat of hair in an afro, and that's all Seree could see of him. That and a very thick and bushy pair of eyebrows.

"Yo, Afro-san! What are you doing?" Ichigo shouted.

"It's Kurumadani dammit! What the hell is with this monster?" He answered, running for his life.

"Rukia, can you grab it?"

"Sure, give me a few seconds..."

"I got that." Renji answered. He rushed forward and called out his Zanpakutō, extending it in the direction the hollow was coming. It nearly cut the afro hair of the Shinigami, and then made a spiral around the body of the hollow as it rushed forward. Renji pulled, and Zabimaru tightly gripped around the snake-like body.

It crashed and started trashing loudly, slowly slithering away from Zabimaru's strong grip. Without missing a beat, Kurumadani kept running past Renji and didn't stop until he had put a sizeable distance between them.

"Bakudō sixty-one..."

Before Rukia had finished, Seree jumped ahead and landed on the head of the hollow, burying the sample vial right behind its head.

"Six-Rod Light Restraint!"

To Rukia's surprise, the hollow made a huge lunge with its body, lifting it and letting the rods crash underneath. Only two landed on the main body, and it was not enough to restrain it. Like a scorpion, the tip of its tail had a sharp end, and it bent its body aiming to hit Seree.

"Seree!" Rukia shouted.

The girl looked up and her multi-coloured hair almost stood on its end. At the last moment, something black covered her face, and there was a very disagreeable noise of metal on metal scraping. Ichigo held Zangetsu firmy in place, and then switched to the offensive.

"Getsuga Tenshō!"

The hollow roared in pain and trashed about, almost throwing Seree off, when the back third of its body went off flying. A few seconds later, Seree pulled the sample vial out and shouted a very excited "done!"

Both her and Ichigo jumped off, and immediately Renji made a huge pull with Zabimaru, throwing the hollow in the air.

"Next Dance, Hakuren!"

A torrent of powerful, pure-white ice flowed from Rujia's Sode no Shirayuki, encasing the hollow completely. The ice shattered into a million pieces together with their enemy when it crashed on the ground.

Seree was on one knee trying to recover her breath when Rukia landed in front of her.

"Seree-chan..."

"I'm terribly sorry!" She cried out, dropping to both knees and bowing down.

"Stop that. Come on, stand up. Are you hurt?"

"N-No, I'm fine." She said as she stood up, trembling noticeably.

"Oi Seree, don't jump the gun like that next time." Ichigo reprimanded her as he approached.

Seree felt her face blushing, a mix of embarrassment and anger.

_How dare a mere Substitute lecture me like that! What an annoying..._

"Good job Ichigo." Rukia answered, then turned to Seree again. "Ichigo is right, what were you trying to prove?"

"Ah, nothing..." She half-mumbled. "I just... I'm sorry."

"I'm not asking for an apology, Seree-chan. I want to know what went wrong. If you weren't trying to prove anything, then what?"

"I just... I just assumed your kidō would work for sure, Kuchiki-dono."

Seree's tone was most apologetic, as if she was sorry she had to point out some imperfection in Rukia. She smiled.

"That's very flattering of you, but I'm not perfect. And these hollow are rather new to all of us, no? Next time, stick to the plan."

"Yes."

Rukia turned to Ichigo and, still smiling, shrugged.

_What a girl._

"That's the last vial I had." Seree said, as she placed the vial in her bag and rummaged through it. "Should I go get some more?"

"No, I think we're done." Rukia answered, looking at Renji and Ichigo. "Take the samples back to Urahara-san, we'll take care of any hollow that appears."

"Very well."

"Oh, and something else." Rukia smiled mischievously, growing once again a pair of fox ears. "It's probably time for Itou-san's training, so you should go find him."

"Ah!" Seree blushed. "I'll do that! Thanksseeyoulater!" She blurted out as she fled the scene.

It took her a lot longer to find the apartment than she'd have liked, but being new to the town she hardly knew the way. She had to jump onto the tallest buildings from time to time to see the way. When she finally arrived at the apartment, she was relieved Yaso was not back yet.

"I'm back!" She called, and her gigai came running from her room.

"Mistress! At last, I was so bored! Can I just watch the television next time I'm here? Please?"

"I don't know... Itou-san will probably think there's something odd about me." Seree answered, still remembering the flat look Yaso had given her when she showed him how she could split from her gigai with Chappy's help.

"I'll be good! I promise, pyon! Please? Please?"

Seree smiled. There was a reason why Chappy was the most popular artificial soul with Shinigami women.

"Okay, okay, I'll give you a chance."

"Yay!"

She jumped on top of Seree and gave her a big hug, and like that the two of them merged together. Seree coughed out the soul candy.

"And now, let's wait for Itou-san! I wonder..."

She tiptoed towards Yaso's room and slowly opened the door. The bed had been made and all seemed well and neat. Then she noticed Yaso had left his katana leaning on the wall next to his bed, where Seree had put it.

"Really now, Itou-san, what's the point of having that if you don't take it with you?"


	24. Chapter 24

The day was almost spent when Yaso finally made it home. Seree had been sitting by the window looking outside the whole time, watching the humans come and go. She was captivated by the dazzling variety of colours of the real world, but what she liked most was this time, when the lights started to come to life as the Sun set under the horizon. Not far from the apartment, a large vehicle stopped, and Yaso walked out of it, carrying a plastic bag and a large bundle over his shoulder.

_These cars sure are amazing, what an invention! Imagine if we had a few of these, we could get wounded Shinigami to the relief station in no time._

When she saw him walking towards the apartment, she quickly ran inside, grabbed the katana and her Fourth Squad pack, and rushed out of the door with a big smile on her face.

"Itou-saaaan!" She called from the building gate, waving at him.

Yaso looked up and responded with a smaller wave, without interrupting his walk. Seree's smile froze on her face when suddenly a portal started to open a few meters behind him. She immediately recognized the sign of a hollow appearing.

"Itou-san!"

Yaso looked at her again and, seeing her gaze lost at some point behind him, stopped and turned. With complete indifference, he turned forward again and kept walking. Seree was taken aback by his attitude, but without any more hesitation she took her soul candy dispenser from her pocket and gulped. Yaso didn't even look at her when she rushed past him unsheathing her Zanpakutō.

The hollow screamed only once before Seree cut it in half. She had recognized the type, a very weak kind of hollow with a nondescript large grey body. The typical hollow one finds in the real world, barely a few days removed from a plus.

_Thank goodness it was a weak one._

She took a deep breath and sheathed her sword, and when she looked at Yaso she saw he was talking with Chappy, then handed her the large bundle and walked inside the building. Seree's face showed complete puzzlement.

"Chappy, what did he say?"

"Ah! Master, he thought I was you, pion! He said he was going to put the groceries in the fridge and to wait here with this." She lifted the bundle, a large black bag with a zip and a long shoulderstrap.

"I... see."

Chappy was smiling, and Seree could swear if she had a tail she would be wagging it.

"What is it?"

"He thought I was you! See? See? Pion!"

Seree sighed and smiled, patting her on the head and mussing her multicoloured hair.

"Yes, yes, good job. Let's go then."

When Yaso came out of the building again, Seree was back in her gigai and waiting for him with her smile back on her face.

"Here." She offered him the katana. "You should always carry it with you, Itou-san, otherwise what's the point?"

"Yeah, well..." He added, taking both the sword and the large bag from Seree's hand and shoulder, "I can't very well go around carrying something like this on plain view. Which is why I bought this bag."

With the sword safely stowed away, they left.

"How was your day?" Seree asked, after a short silence.

"Hm, fine."

"Really? Ah, mine was so busy! We went getting samples for Urahara-san, it was so tiring! But working with Kuchiki-dono and Abarai-san and that Kurosaki kid made it a lot easier."

"Kuchiki... dono?"

"Yes, Kuchiki Rukia, remember?" Seree looked at Yaso inquisitively, and continued when he nodded. "She's a member of the Kuchiki family, one of the four noble houses!"

"Oh, sounds like a big shot. Who woulda thought, looking at her..."

"Itou-san, not you too!"

"Me too what?"

"That Kurosaki kid kept disrespecting Kuchiki-dono." She clenched her fist, getting fired up. "Grrr, it makes me so mad!"

Yaso sighed and smiled. Seree almost tripped when she saw him smiling.

"Somehow I can't see you getting mad."

"Ah..." She blushed, then suddenly remembered something. "By the way! Kuchiki-dono told me... I mean, well, I'm curious, I hope I'm not being too nosy. I'm wondering..."

Yaso looked at her with an unenthusiastic raised eyebrow.

"Eh, well, what do you do, Itou-san? Do you have a job? Eh-hehehe..."

He looked away as he answered.

"Not at the moment, no."

"Oh."

_Geez, even with Kuchiki-dono's instructions I just screwed up again._

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

"Hm?" Yaso turned to Seree, curious. "It's fine, why are you apologizing?"

"Eh-hehehe, I'm sor- I mean, I'm such a klutz, hehe" She scratched the back of her head in an embarrassed gesture.

Yaso smiled again and simply kept walking. Seree giggled to herself.

_Yes!_

When they arrived at the shop, Jinta was sitting on the tatami giving instructions to Renji, who was sweeping the place with a very annoyed gesture.

"Jinta-kun! Is the owner in? We're here for training!" Seree called enthusiastically.

"Yeah, he's on the back, go on."

"Great! Excuse us, Abarai-san..."

"Man, what a drag." Renji answered without looking up.

Urahara was sitting at the table having tea, looking rather bored. His goofy smile opened wide when they entered the room.

"Oh, Seree-chan, Itou-san, good of you to join us!"

"Urahara-san, good evening! I brought the samples you wanted!"

"Good job! It wasn't too difficult I hope?"

He talked as he stood up and led them down the ladder to the giant underground room. Yaso clung to the ladder for dear life on every step down.

"It wasn't too bad, with Abarai-san and Kuchiki-dono, they work really well together!"

"Ah, wasn't Kurosaki-kun with you too?"

"Well, yes, he may have helped a bit." She finished in an annoyed murmur.

"Yo, Yaso! Seree!"

"Oh, hello Yoruichi-san." Seree answered, in a somehow dry tone.

_You better not beat up Itou-san again like that, you evil werecat woman! I cant believe Captain Suì-Fēng has such a crush on you..._

"Sensei." Yaso responded, which made Yoruichi smile.

"Wow, look at you, two healers from the Fourth Division in your place and you show up like this? I was hoping you two would do a better job!"

"Well," Seree replied, visibly annoyed, "why don't _you_ try then? Huh?"

Yoruichi was slightly taken aback by the response, and exchanged glances with Urahara. Seree caught it, but didn't have time to say anything before the dark skinned woman took Yaso away.

"Nevermind then, let's go Yaso. Let's get some distance."

"Seree-chan, come sit over here!" Urahara called, waving at her with his fan.

"Really now..." She complained, plopping down on the rock, still simmering.

"Now, now, don't be like that, you're starting to sound like Itou-san."

"That's because I'm annoyed!" She replied, turning sharply towards Urahara and making him hide his mouth under his fan. "You two keep having these, these... _Secret_ looks, and I don't know what you are trying to do, and I don't know anything!"

"Ara?"

Seree didn't answer, she merely sighed and turned away, slumping forward and putting her hands under her jaw.

"Things not going well with Itou-san?"

Seree opened her eyes wide as she blushed, and she turned to Urahara again, even more annoyed.

"Not you too! It's bad enough that... that..."

Her annoyance subsided when she saw Urahara had lost his goofy air, and was giving her a knowing look with a half-smile.

"Well, no, they're not." She looked at Yaso, who was stretching his legs and arms as a warm-up before the fight. He was wearing actual sports clothes that day, with long black trousers, sneakers, and a sleeveless shirt. "I tried healing him yesterday, and it didn't work."

"Care to explain?"

Seree looked at Urahara, he didn't look like he was taking her words lightly. They looked at each other for a few seconds until Seree made up her mind.

"Okay. It went like this, Itou-san fell asleep, and I..."

"Ready?" Yoruichi called, as Yaso tucked the sheathed katana under the sash he had just tied around his waist.

"Yes." He unsheathed and assumed his stance. "Let's do this."

Yoruichi made a few slow shunpo moves to warm him up, then made a sharp one, diving under his guard and slipping behind him. He noticed too late, and was expecting a painful hit, but Yoruichi merely locked him with her arms around his right arm and neck. After a light squeeze, she let him go.

"That was dreadfully slow, what's wrong?"

"I was about to say the same, you didn't hit me?"

"Eh, believe it or not I'm not an evil sadist." She pointed back at Seree with her thumb. "I was expecting that girl to fix you up for today."

"She did, for the most part." Yaso replied, pointing at the bandage around his shoulder.

"Yeah, well, that's what I mean. That's quite disappointing. But I suppose I shouldn't be surprised healing kidō didn't work."

***Thunk***

The strange sudden pulse made all three look at Yaso, who was merely shaking his head.

"And it was just like that." Seree finally said, turning to Urahara. "I swear I felt something like... Well, just like that pulse of... _Whatever_ it is. It felt like pure pain, to be honest." She turned to Yaso, giving him a questioning look. "I felt like I screwed up something."

"I see."

Back on the field, Yoruichi got past Yaso's guard again, and gave him a shove on the back, jumping away with shunpo before he could turn. Seree sighed in relief.

_At least she's not beating him up again._

"Urahara-san."

"Yes?"

"What's wrong with Yaso?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... That Katsutoshi's kidō didn't work when they fought. _Yours_ didn't work either when you tried the same spell. And then I couldn't get his soul out of his body with the Gokon Tekkō, and you tried giving him a soul candy and _that _didn't work either..."

"Yeah, I've never seen a soul so attached to its body, quite amazing isn't it?" He replied with a goody smile.

"Urahara-san! There's more than that! Why didn't my kidō work on him? And what was that Yoruichi-san tried on him yesterday..."

"Shunkō."

"Yes, that! That didn't work right either, did it?"

"Well... According to Yoruichi-san, in the end it did work, somehow. Not as she expected though."

"It's just weird! And how can he see us? He has so little reiatsu I can barely feel it!"

"Wait, can you actually feel his reiatsu?"

"Well..." Seree stopped her tirade and thought, baffled. "Well no, I couldn't, I mean I can't, but I mean, everyone has at least a tiny bit of reiatsu, right?"

"Yeah, that is correct."

"So..."

Seree stopped talking, thinking.

_He just lets me talk and talk until I say something he wants to hear._

"Good, keep going Seree-chan."

"Do you mean he has _no _reiatsu at all?"

"Not if he's alive. I have to admit I ran a few tests on his blood yesterday." Seree looked at him, and he laughed softly, with a big goofy grin. "I couldn't help it, we had the used bandages and I was just curious, and, eh-hehehe."

"And? What did you find? What?"

"Oh, such enthusiasm! He's human all right."

"That's it?"

"Yes. And that's the strange thing, that was all."

"So... Where _is _his reiatsu?"

"That's the problem, you see, I can hardly investigate if nothing works on him."

"Why don't we just ask him?"

Urahara looked at Seree for a long time, until she turned away from the combat and realized he was looking at her.

"Seree-chan, haven't you noticed?"

"What?"

"The look on his face." He turned to Yaso and Yoruichi, and Seree did the same. "He has the look of a man desperate for answers, and yet he doesn't seem to accept any of the answers he finds here."

"Okay, so he's stubborn."

"It can't be that easy."

Seree thought of the times Yaso had looked at her with that intense scrutinizing look. She could understand what Urahara was saying, it's like he didn't want to believe his eyes.

_Or maybe he can't. No that's silly._

"Why?" She finally asked, to nobody in particular.

"Careful with that, it can be a hard question."

"But we can show him..."

"Only so much. I tried, and couldn't even get his soul out of his body, remember?"

Seree sighed again.

"Okay, we're not continuing until you take this seriously, Yaso." Yoruichi chided him, stopping a few meters away and putting a hand to her hip with an annoyed expression.

"How on Earth am I supposed to..."

"You've forgotten yesterday already? You gave an excellent counter in our last exchange."

"That was just a fluke!"

"Who're you trying to convince? That was no fluke, you think I couldn't tell?"

Yaso opened his eyes wide in surprise as he looked at Yoruichi. He felt her golden eyes almost as if they were reading his mind.

"Freaking..."

He finished muttering, and sheathed his katana. Lowering his body slightly, he put his right foot forward, and placed his right hand half an inch over the tsuka, with the left at the very end of the saya. He closed his eyes, breathed deeply, then opened them again.

Yoruichi smirked.

_That's more like it._


	25. Chapter 25

Yoruichi took two steps towards Yaso, but he remained motionless. His eyes seemed out of focus, like they weren't really following her.

She knew better, though.

On the third step, her reiatsu pulsed as she launched forward with shunpo. Yaso reacted almost instantly, grabbing his katana, and unsheathing with a swipe aimed at her neck. That attack was too high, and Yoruichi easy dove under it. She had to dodge a second time when Yaso made a swipe with the saya using his left hand, turning until she was nearly on the floor and facing up. She put her own arm around Yaso's left, and at that instant Yaso reacted by pulling upright with all his strength, dragging Yoruichi with him.

_Oh you sneaky little..._

Yoruichi tapped the floor with her left foot just an instant before she lost all footing, giving herself extra momentum to throw Yaso off balance. As she jumped up, she spun along his back, and at the end they both rolled on the ground, Yoruichi ending under his back and holding his arm and neck in an excellent lock.

"Very good!" She praised him, releasing him and giving him a push to get his heavy body off.

When he stood up, he turned to Yoruichi with what appeared to be a greatly shocked expression.

"What is it?" She asked, dusting herself off as she stood up.

"How on Earth did you do that?"

"Don't tell me you didn't follow."

"No, I did, and it's impossible." He eyed Yoruichi up and down. "It just..."

"The idea was good, if you had managed to lift me off the ground I'd have had no leverage, and you're heavier than I am. So I pushed in the same direction you were lifting me to throw you off balance. Rather simple."

"Like hell. You... _How_ could you give yourself such a hugeass push with just a small flex of your foot?" He looked at Yoruichi's legs, in a manner that Suì-Fēng would have only approved for herself. "You can't possibly be that strong."

"Ah? I guess you could say there's more to me that meets the eye, right?" She smirked mischievously.

"Obviously." Yaso practically spat out the word. "That's the bloody problem, isn't it."

"Problem?"

"Like you don't know." Yaso answered, adopting a stance with his sword held low.

Yoruichi raised an eyebrow but said nothing, and merely resumed the combat.

"Ah, Abarai-kun, good of you to join us!" Urahara called happily, waving at Renji with his fan.

"Well I've done all the bloody chores, figured I'd come down here and watch something fun. Is he getting beaten up again?" Renji smirked, gaining himself a rather cross look from Seree.

"No, no, Yoruichi-san's being quite careful today."

"Really. What a shame, it was a good show yesterday." Renji sat down on the same rock the other two were, and shook his head. "What a town."

"Eh? You told Kurosaki the same before, what do you mean Lieutenant?" Seree asked, losing her annoyed expression.

"I mean just that." He scratched his head as he spoke. "There's Ichigo and his gang, and all the other weirdos that can see us, and have their own weird abilities, and now this guy, all in this town. Is there something in the water or what?"

"Funny, isn't it? Great spot to have a shop like mine." Urahara answered, smiling happily.

"You mean there's more people like...?" Seree asked in an amazed tone.

"Yeah. The only reason they aren't all over this place is because most of them are on school holidays. And that's the other thing, most of them are just kids, at least this guy looks old enough to shave."

"Well, I haven't seen him shave so far, so..."

Urahara and Renji looked at her, and she clammed up double quick, blushing.

_Eep! Too much information!_

Back on the combat, Yoruichi was helping Yaso up, after having sneaked with a fast spinning move past his lunge at her and knocked him down with a low kick.

"Are you finally starting to see my movements?"

"Heck no."

"Hm? Are you... _sensing_ me then?"

Her voice had sounded somehow hopeful, but Yaso didn't quite catch the tone, much less what she might have been hopeful for.

"Not really." He sighed. "It's... hard to describe."

He looked at Yoruichi, standing in front of him with crossed arms, and without a single move her golden eyes invited him to continue. His gaze turned down, he sheathed his katana, and walked slowly to a nearby rock, sitting down.

"I have been doing iaidō for a number of years." He finally spoke, without looking up, in a tone that sounded as if it was meant as much for himself as it was for Yoruichi. "The primary focus of iaidō is the _presence_ of oneself, and from there the secondary is drawing and responding to an attack as fast as possible."

Yoruichi nodded, not saying a word. She was quite familiar with the discipline.

"It... No, _things_ seemed to make sense when I was doing it. I don't know why. It just felt right, the _response _part just flowed very naturally. I was very good at it_._"

"_Was_?" Yoruichi asked. She had meant it as a small compliment to Yaso, but immediately regretted having interrupted his train of thought.

"Yeah, well, I stopped." He finished abruptly, as if he was mentioning something trivial anyone should know, and stood up. "I can't believe I'm making myself do this all over again."

"Seeing is believing." Yoruichi replied with a smirk.

"Not really, no."

_What?_

"There's something I don't understand, Urahara-san." Seree asked, after fruitlessly trying to guess what Yaso and Yoruichi were talking about.

"What is it?"

"That's an artificial Zanpakutō, right?"

"Not exactly, but I guess you could call it that."

"Right. What I mean is that it can be used to cut through spiritual things, like us."

"Yes?"

"Well, Itou-san doesn't seem too happy about it, does he really need it? I mean, he already fought with this Katsutoshi guy, and he even hurt him, does he really need it?"

"Ara, that was quite lucky!" Urahara replied, raising his hand with a finger pointing up.

"Lucky?"

"Yes! How did Itou-san hurt him?"

"He... Right, he hit him with his elbow on the mouth. Made him quite annoyed too." She smirked.

"Exactly! Katsutoshi was probably quite confused over that, which was lucky. If he had been hit with the saber, it would have had no effect, and the confused one would have been Itou-san."

"But he stopped his Zanpakutō many times with that sword."

"So?"

"Shouldn't the Zanpakutō just gone through Itou-san's sword and hit him?"

"Sure. Have you ever tried?"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"Simple!" He exclaimed, standing up and taking his hat off. He put it in front of Seree's face. "Go ahead and get your arm through this, it's a solid object so it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Ah! One second..." She gulped her soul candy and, once in soul form, she plunged her arm inside the hat, making it go through with no problem.

"Good! Now..." Urahara picked a rock and held it with his other hand just above the hat. "Get your arm through the hat and grab this rock as it falls. Ready?"

"Sure!"

"There goes!" He called, letting go of the rock.

To her surprise, Seree punched the hat and snatched it from Urahara's hand, hitting the rock with it and all.

"See?"

"How... What?"

"You were thinking of grabbing the rock, which is a solid object, correct?"

"Yes."

"And before, you were thinking of not touching the hat."

"Uh-huh."

"You can do both, but changing from one to another so quickly is very hard!" Urahara explained in a festive voice, putting his hat back on. "More so if you're in battle. If you're thinking of hitting something solid with your Zanpakutō, and not a hollow or a plus, then you need to concentrate on, well, hitting it! It's hard to go through an object to hit another while in the middle of combat."

"I see..."

"You know." Renji interrupted them, while looking at Yaso. "He's not as bad as I thought after seeing him yesterday."

"Of course he isn't!" Seree replied in a peppery tone. "He's got a cabinet full of fencing trophies! Why, he's even got one for kendo..."

She suddenly put both hands on her mouth, which piqued the interest of the others more than if she had only gone through it nonchalantly.

_Stupid, stupid big mouth!_

"Why are you doing that, Seree-chan?" Urahara asked mischievously.

"N-Nothing! No reason!"

"Aaaaah, very suspicious." Renji replied, smirking evilly.

"Seree-chan has been snooping around Itou-san's place, I bet." Urahara grinned, then hid his mouth behind his fan.

She turned as red as anyone could possibly turn without having their head explode, looking down to the ground.

_You evil man! I hate you!_

She had never been more grateful in her life for an interruption, and the beeping of her cellphone was just that. She shot up then jumped straight into her gigai, almost choking on the soul candy while searching her pockets for the damnable contraption.

"H- *cough* Hello? Lieutenant Kotetsu! Yes. Yes. What? Oh, hold on."

She pressed one of the buttons, and the device switched to loudspeaker mode.

"Who am I talking to?" Isane asked from the other end of the line.

"Me, Lieutenant Abarai, and Urahara-san."

"Great. I have just finished talking with Hisagi-san, and I thought you need to hear this as soon as possible."

"Is this about this morning's attack?" Seree interrupted.

"Yes. Please listen carefully..."


	26. Chapter 26

The door to Hisagi's room in the relief station opened, and Captain Unohana entered, followed by Nemu. Isane was sitting next to Hisagi's bed, holding a wad of paper and brush.

"Isane."

"Hi Captain. Hello Nemu."

"Nemu is here to hear Hisagi-kun's report, since the 12th division is going to help with the investigation."

"Sure!" Isane replied, then pointed at the pile of papers sitting on the small bedside table. "We were just getting to the last part, if you want to read that it's all yours."

"Thank you." Nemu replied in a flat voice.

Captain Unohana stood by the end of Hisagi's bed and, with a mere smile, prompted Isane to continue.

"So, what about the attacker's ability?"

"It was hard to follow." Hisagi said, in a half-murmur as he tried to remember. "It was like... Wait, let me borrow one of these."

"Sure." Isane handed him a sheet of paper.

"Imagine we are on top of this piece of paper." Hisagi started to explain, holding the paper from opposite ends with his palms up. "Let's say this is the normal world."

"Okay."

"Now, it felt like... this."

Hisagi moved his hands, still with palms up and holding the paper, towards each other. When they touched, the paper had folded under his hands, and the surface over his palms was much reduced. "See that fold of paper? It felt like he was compressing everything around him, making a bubble like that."

"Dimensional manipulation?" Unohana asked, helpfully.

"That's how I interpret it, yes. I thought at first it was merely an optic trick, but..." He lifted his arm and looked at the bandages.

"I never saw the attack that did that to you..." Isane replied, in a slightly apologetic tone.

"There was no attack." Hisagi took the sheet of paper and folded it again in the same way. "Put your hand on the paper, Isane-san."

"Sure."

"Okay, now what happens if I do this?"

He separated his hands again, stretching the sheet of paper back into shape. Isane felt how the paper had pulled at her skin as it moved away.

"So it..."

"Yes. I have been cut before by a sword, and by hollow, and this felt nothing like that. It was like my arm just suddenly moved away."

Isane scribbled furiously on her sheet of paper.

"That sounds like a dangerous ability." Unohana prompted.

"Yes, if one steps across the crevasse,if it can be called that way. That's what happened. I put my arm over the edges of the pocket, so to speak, and when it pulled away, well..."

"The question is what happens if one is hit with that power directly." Isane said.

"That I saw too. The ryoka used it to pull Shinigami in one by one. I suppose that the way it works is that objects are still whole and connected to the dimension pocket, there was no damage to the walls or the floor or anything else."

Isane scribbled some more.

"I understand." Nemu interrupted them. "In that case, I am under orders from Mayuri-sama to bring you to our headquarters for experimenting."

"What?"

Hisagi felt himself turn a bit green, while both him and Isane shared a similar shocked expression.

"We need to analyse the residue of the reiatsu if we are to determine the nature of your attacker. I will not take a no for an answer."

"Ara, Nemu-chan, that will not be necessary." Unohana replied in a conciliatory tone. "Here, I found traces of the foreign reiatsu when I was healing Hisagi-kun, so I took a sample just in case." She opened her hand, offering two small vials perfectly labelled with '_Hisagi_' and '_Ryoka_' on the side. "You can take them."

"I understand." Nemu replied in a monotone, taking the vials.

Hisagi and Isane let out a sigh of relief. Hisagi's relief was noticeably greater.

"And that's what happened." Isane finished from the other end of the line. "Now you know what to look for."

Seree, Renji, and Urahara looked at each other.

"Hello?" Isane prompted.

"Yes, yes, we're all here." Urahara replied. "Lieutenant, could I possibly have one of those samples too? It would be very useful to investigate things from this end."

"Understood, I'll send it with Rangiku-san tomorrow."

"Still, dimensional manipulation, that sounds kind of scary..." Seree said. "Was it the same Katsutoshi guy who attacked us here in the Real World?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know. I only took a quick look at him from behind."

"Hmmm..." Urahara interrupted, humming thoughtfully. "One other thing. You said the attacker disappeared through the outer wall after the attack?"

"Yes." Isane replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"Going by Hisagi-kun's explanation, his attacker was making separate dimensional pockets to hide, but was not changing what was in them, correct?"

"Yes?" Isane asked, not seeing where that was going.

"I can't say for sure, but it doesn't sound like an ability that would let him walk through walls, so to speak."

There was a long silence, then Isane suddenly snapped.

"You don't mean..."

"Yes, he probably gave that appearance to throw you off. He could very well still be inside the Court of Pure Souls."

"Oh crap!"

"Wait, Isa-"

There was a tumble and a crashing sound, and the cellphone went dead.

"Whew!" Urahara said cheerfully. "Talk about jumping to conclusions!"

"Really, it was you who said that!" Seree chided him.

"Now, now, I was just discussing the possibility! There was no need to jump to conclusions like that."

Yaso took a moment to wipe the sweat from his face, grateful for the short break. His legs were starting to feel heavy, but at least most of his bruises did not hurt anymore. Yoruichi waited patiently, stretching her shapely limbs like a cat.

_I must look ridiculous, flailing around like this._

"Oi Yaso, once more?"

"Sure."

"And this time..." She smirked, crouching a the ready. "Let's make it a good one."

Yaso raised an eyebrow but didn't add anything. He seemed to weight his katana for a few moments and then, made a wide sweep, looking at the blade as it went. With a small flourish, she spun the weapon in his hand and sheathed it. He then closed with eyes and, after a deep breath, adopted his ready stance.

"Let's do this."

Yoruichi took a moment to examine Yaso. His posture was slightly different, with the right leg bent down about five inches lower than before, and wider foot position, about ten inches or so. His left elbow was also higher, a slightly more forced stance.

_He's trying to get more leverage to pivot around, he's expecting me to go behind him I suppose. It's so obvious. But his right hand is hovering at the tip of the tsuka. I wonder, is he trying to get more reach? _She smiled. _Ah well, why not? I guess I'll play. It's so obvious it's more of an invitation, really._

Yoruichi rushed forward, disappearing from Yaso's sight in less than the blink of an eye. She saw him reach for his katana, but pressed forward undeterred.

_Too slow!_

When they were back to back, she heard the noise of the blade leaving the saya coming from behind her. Her subsequent reaction was more instinctive than premeditated, bending sharply to one side as Yaso lunged at her with the blade. He was gripping the hilt backwards, so that he could lunge towards his back without even having to turn. As she moved, she caught a glimpse of his feet movement, so she put her hands down and started a backflip, dodging Yaso's left leg as it tried to sweep her off balance.

Then they both spun at the same time. There were multiple scuff noises, and it was Yaso who went flying and crashed down on the ground, sending both his sword and the wooden saya flying in opposite directions.

"Itou-san! Are you okay?"

Yaso was clutching his chest again; Seree carefully reached under his arms and examined the old bruise.

_She hit him right on the cracked rib again!_

"Yoruichi-san!"

Her protests died in her mouth when she turned and saw Yoruichi looking at them, smiling openly and rubbing her right hand with her left. There was a light bruise on the back of her right hand.

"Did he..." She started saying, and Yoruichi nodded.

"Yes. Quite good really, first that reverse stab, then the sweep, and after all that he just made a swipe at me with the saya. I could only block that one, didn't have a chance to dodge it."

Yaso sat up rubbing his chest with a gesture of pain.

"Not much... Of a hit, was it?" He answered, with a rueful smile.

"Ah? What are you talking about? We're just sparring."

Yoruichi smiled and offered him a hand, and Seree stood up and did the same. He couldn't help but smile himself as they helped him to his feet.

Their walk back home was less onerous than it had been the previous night. At least this time Yaso could stand on his own two feet.

"Man, I'm totally beat." He half-complained in a surprisingly upbeat tone.

"Did it go better today?" Seree asked, spurred by the rare sight of a non-gloomy Yaso.

"At least she didn't beat me up so bad. Agh, I'm really thirsty, hold on..."

Yaso searched his pockets and, loose change in hand, stopped in front of a vending machine. Seree looked at it with big curious eyes from behind Yaso.

"Want some?"

"Sure!"

"Which one?" Yaso asked, pressing one of the buttons and getting a grape juice for himself.

"I dunno... Can you choose for me?"

"Okay, grape fruit it is."

"Thanks!"

She gulped a big mouthful and her eyes sparkled in joy at the wonderful flavour.

_What an invention! The research and development bureau has nothing on the real world!_

Back in Soul Society, Captain Kurotsuchi made a sudden sneeze.

Seree was so distracted by the juice that she barely paid attention where they were going, following Yaso without question. When she finally had finished it, they were crossing one of the bridges over the river.

"Wow, there's such a nice view from up here!"

"Eh? What do you mean? The river's just dark now." Yaso disagreed.

"Yeah, but I love the lights, and the way they reflect on the water. The bridge is not so..."

She stopped talking when she noticed something odd. The bridge was barely visible reflected on the water, but there was some sort of optic distortion, it looked as if the bridge was shorter than it should be. The reflection itself was wrong. Seree stopped and examined the reflection carefully, then the bridge, then the reflection again. It was then that she noticed the path and the handrail weren't properly aligned, almost as if...

_As if they've been cut. Oh shi-_

"Itou-san!"

She saw everything happening in slow motion as her heart redoubled its beat, like a drum calling for war. She lost sight of Yaso for an instant as he stepped on the imaginary line that was cutting the bridge, and then in an instant the missing part of the bridge reappeared, extending in front of her eyes.

She froze in place when she looked at Yaso. He had turned and was looking at her with a questioning look on his face, but completely unharmed. That's when she saw a slight movement behind him, and recognized the person standing on the bridge.

"Look!" She called, pointing.

Yaso turned and spoke in a maddeningly calm tone.

"Katsutoshi, wasn't it?"

Katsutoshi didn't look amused at all.


	27. Chapter 27

Seree didn't waste time wondering, she took advantage of Katsutoshi's apparent confusion to gulp her soul candy and rush to Yaso's side. She unsheathed along the way, and skidded to a stop with Yaezakura held with her right hand.

The air around Katsutoshi seemed to wobble and distort, and an instant later he had disappeared.

"What the-"

She followed the distortion line on the ground as best she could in the dim light. The bridge contracted along several places, adopting a strange shape as more of it disappeared in the dimensional pocket. She was still desperately trying to find Katsutoshi when suddenly Yaso grabbed her right hand and pulled at her arm, twisting it to put her Zanpakutō on her back.

"What are you doing?"

They both asked the same thing in unison, and a metal-on-metal clang answered Seree's question as Yaso blocked Katsutoshi's attack. He grabbed the tsuka of Seree's sword with his left hand, and pushed her away with his right, forcing her to let go.

"Give me that!" He said, pushing Katsutoshi's weapon away and lunging at him, forcing the renegade shinigami to dodge back.

"That's my Zanpakutō!" Seree protested angrily.

Katsutoshi took another step back and disappeared across the crevasse of his dimensional pocket. Undeterred, Yaso followed, disappearing too. It wasn't long before both appeared again as the dimensional pocket collapsed and the bridge reappeared in its full form. Katsutoshi looked completely confused, and so did Seree.

Yaso continued mounting up the pressure.

_How? Nevermind that, I have to do something! Wait, I know!_

Seree used shunpo and landed a few meters behind Yaso, far enough not to distract him. She raised her right hand to her left shoulder, with the index finger extended, waiting while following the combat closely.

It wasn't long before Katsutoshi used shunpo himself, landing behind Yaso.

"Hadō four, Pale Lightning!"

The spell executed well, firing a blue light from Seree's finger aimed at Katsutoshi. To her dismay he dodged most of it, only getting clipped on his arm by the edge of the bolt.

She clenched her teeth and held fer breath when Yaso got caught right in the middle of it.

_Please work, please work_, _pleasepleaseplase_.

The spell engulfed him but the light washed over him with a loud crackle. The bolt hadn't even finished travelling when Yaso rushed out of it and attacked Katsutoshi with a vertical slice, forcing him to parry at the last moment. He had a stressed grimace on his face.

"Bakudō four, Crawling Rope!"

Katsutoshi pivoted to his right, pushing Yaso away. The move caught him unprepared, as both of them lost their balance, but Yaso fell in between Katsutoshi and Seree. She was nearly hyperventilating through clenched teeth when for the second time she hit Yaso, but to her relief he rolled and stood up immediately, shattering the yellow reiatsu rope without any effort.

_Goodness me, I'm glad I trusted Urahara-san, but...Damn! Makes my heart skip every time!_

Katsutoshi stood up very quickly too, and even before he had recovered his footing he plunged forward with shunpo. Yaso spun trying to follow, expecting him to appear behind his back, but Katsutoshi rushed past him instead, going straight for Seree. She crouched ready to dodge, and to her surprise Katsutoshi glanced back and, smiling, retreated with a second shunpo.

"Oh crap!"

Yaso had tried to take a stab at him from behind, and now found himself going straight for Seree. Barely an inch from her face, the blade changed course and turned upwards, as Yaso tried to lever it away with both his hands on the tsuka. He had lost all balance, and his back was wide open.

"Gotcha!" Katsutoshi said, licking his lips as he slashed downwards towards Yaso.

Seree had started moving the instant Yaso had lost his balance, and she reached forward with her right hand.

_Let g- Yes!_

As soon as Seree had clutched the tsuka of Yaezakura, Yaso had let go completely. It wasn't the best grip, only her right hand at about the halfway point on the handle, but it was good enough. She deflected Katsutoshi's attack with a right-to-left close slash, and made a counter of her own with a widening left-to-right aimed at his neck. He, too, deflected her attack, crouching under it with a powerful vertical blow. Seree was nearly thrown off-balance, and would have been cut pretty badly if Yaso hadn't suddenly grabbed her clothes and pulled her away. Like she had done, he grabbed Yaezakura and, as she let go, made another attack.

Katsutoshi avoided it by jumping away with shunpo. He looked at his two opponents for a few seconds while Seree regained her footing and, very decisively, took Yaezakura back from Yaso's hands.

"The hell you two been doing?" He asked, bewildered. "Well, don't matter none, yer the only two loose ends I has now, you ain't gonna walk away from this."

Without losing sight of him, Seree walked sideways with her guard held high, until she reached the bag Yaso had dropped, and tossed it towards him with a kick. He grabbed it mid air and, with the same fluid motion, reached inside, but without pulling his katana out yet.

_Let's see if he wonders what I have in here._

Katsutoshi's reiatsu suddenly started climbing, more, and more. Seree's eyes opened wide as she felt the enormous pressure falling on her. She glanced at Yaso.

Completely indifferent.

_What the heck is this reiatsu? It's really weird and really strong! And Itou-san hasn't realized!_

"And now..." He started talking in a tone that could very well be a boast, raising his sword high over his head. It started shining with a bright red light. "Hunt them do-!"

Whatever he was planning to do was rudely interrupted when he had to block an attack coming from above him. Seree recognized the pure white blade and the accompanying reiatsu.

"Kuchiki-dono!" She called, with infinite relief in her voice.

"The hell, more clowns?" Katsutoshi complained.

"First dance... Tsukishiro!"

Rukia made a sweeping slice as she jumped back, and the ground under Katsutoshi's feet started glowing white. He reacted well, jumping back and a good distance up too, moments before a large column of ice erupted from the ground. He sensed someone coming at him from behind, and turned with just enough time to block an enormous Zanpakutō aimed at him. But with no leverage, he was thrown several meters back, crashing painfully on the concrete.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Seree exclaimed again, surprisingly enthusiastic given who it was.

"Next dance... Hakuren!"

_Got him! _Rukia smirked.

Rukia's attack crashed on Katsutoshi, creating an enormous torrent of ice and snow. But only an instant later he slowly started to ascend towards the sky, surrounded by a column of yellow light which had landed on him a fraction of a second before Rukia's attack.

"Dammit! Negación?" Rukia cried out, annoyed.

"What... What's that?" Seree asked, looking up as Katsutoshi was lifted slowly towards a gap in the sky.

"It's a field created by hollows, to rescue other hollows and allies. Once someone is encased in that light, it's all over. They are untouchable."

"Hollows? So he's..."

"With this, I'd say it's obvious he's connected to_ them_, yes." Rukia replied, annoyance still obvious in her voice. "And we so had him. Bah!"

Once Katsutoshi had disappeared, she sighed, turned to Seree, and smiled.

"You did good work, Seree-chan."

"Ah-hehehe, thank you Kuchiki-dono." She scratched her neck, uncomfortably embarrassed. "Itou-san was great too."

"Ah. Good going then."

Yaso didn't reply, he was looking around him with the looks of a man who was incapable of understanding just what had happened.

"I think he's confused." Ichigo said nonchalantly.

"He _always_ looks confused."

"Kuchiki-dono, that's not fair. He's trying his best! It's a lot to take in just like that."

"Yeah, yeah, I guess you're right." Rukia smiled and patted Seree's head, mussing her multicolored hair a bit. "I'm hoping this time you did get a good look at him?" She pointed upwards with her thumb, in the direction Katsutoshi had disappeared.

"Better than last time, yes! But at this rate I'll never recognize him if I see him in the day."

"I wonder what he wanted." Ichigo asked to noone in particular.

"He said we were the only two loose ends." Seree replied. "But I have no idea what he was on about."

"Loose ends?"

"I dunno... It may have something to do with his dimensio-"

She suddenly stopped talking and looked at Yaso, who appeared to have recovered some but had still a bewildered look on his face.

"Seree-chan?"

"Right! Sorry, I just remembered, Lieutenant Kotetsu gave us an update on the attack on Soul Society, did you hear it yet?"

"No."

"Okay! I should bring you up to speed, Um..."

The three of them looked at Yaso, who at first didn't know what they were trying to get. Until the light bulb suddenly went on.

"Right. Oh-kay then, let's go to my place." He sighed.

"I hope it's not an imposition..." Seree asked him in a low voice as they resumed their walk.

"It's fine, I'm just tired."

By the time everyone had left it was near midnight. After saying their farewells, the three of them sat in front of the TV with Hanatarō's bento dinners in hand. Without making it obvious, Seree noticed Yaso had again taking up one pill before sitting down.

_I wonder what that is..._

She suddenly blushed when she remembered Urahara poking fun at her for nosing around Yaso's apartment.

_Annoying little man! How..._

"Miyanaga-san? Are you okay? You look very red."

"Ah! Yesyesyes, I'm fine, hehehe!"

Back on TV, the host was cheering on a man who was running an obstacle course dressed up as a clown, as other oddly dressed people kept throwing giant inflatable fish at him.

"What an odd way of training." Seree commented, munching her dinner with the rapid pace of someone whose brain is working full time.

"It's not training, it's a contest."

"Eh?"

"See all the people... There?" Yaso asked as the camera zoomed out showing the whole studio set.

"Yes."

"They're all going through the same thing, and the one who makes it first wins."

"Hmmm, what do they win?"

"In this one, a car, but it varies by contest."

"Woooow, that's amazing."

She completely lost track of time watching the contest, until Yaso tapped her on the shoulder a good hour and a half later. He looked like he had just come out of the bath.

"Time to sleep."

"But-" She quieted down when Yaso interrupted with a gesture for silence, and then pointed at Hanatarō; he was fast asleep with his face on the arm of the large three-seater sofa. Seree couldn't help but smile. "I see."

After they properly put him to bed on the sofa, Seree followed Yaso to his room carrying her first aid kit and all. Yaso was very quiet as Seree worked.

But that only lasted about five minutes.

"What are you thinking of, Itou-san?"

"Hm? Oh, I was just thinking it's funny how captivated you were by the television show." He smirked, prompting Seree to blush once more.

"I know, and you warned me too."

"Did I?"

"Yes, it rots the brain if I watch it too much." She answered, very proud of herself.

"Uh... Oh! Right!" He gave Seree a questioning look, then laid his head back on the pillow. "Good memory, heh."

_I can't tell if that was a compliment or if he was making fun of me again._

She would have to guess by herself, Yaso had once again fallen asleep before she was done.


	28. Chapter 28

It was one of the typical late Summer days. It was early afternoon, barely a breeze moved, and only a few adventurous cicadas broke the monotony with their lazy chirping, incapable of breaking the heavy mood that appeared to have gripped everyone.

"Good afternoon! Is the owner in?"

Three pairs of eyes turned towards the door and set on the curvaceous figure of the busty redhead entering the Urahara shop. Her cheerful greeting and upbeat tone was completely at odds with everyone else's.

"Lieutenant Matsumoto." Tessai replied, with his usual politeness. "The owner is rather busy at the moment."

"Really?" She lifted her right hand, showing a small bundle she was carrying. "Isane gave me this package for him, something he asked for I believe? I wonder what it is."

"Oh I see. He mentioned this, please come with me then."

"What is he up to?" She asked full of curiosity.

"He should be able to explain." Tessai added, talking without really saying anything.

When they reached their destination, he knocked at the door and opened it when invited to do so. Matsumoto started walking in, but her smiling face suddenly froze and she ran out again holding a hand to her nose and mouth.

"W-W-What is that smell?" She asked, turning slightly green.

"Ara, sorry, sorry, I've kinda been holed up in here for a while." Urahara replied from behind a desk, buried under a pile of all sorts of lab supplies, several of them giving out smoke and steam of different colours. In a corner, a large stack of papers threatened to upset the whole thing under its weight.

"Can't you open a window? Phew!"

"Ah sure, sure. Could you bring that sample, Rangiku-san?"

Matsumoto took a deep breath and, holding it in, strode into the room with a hand over her mouth and nose. She was planning on just dropping the package and running away, but Urahara held her up.

"Thank you, did Isane-san say anything else about these?"

Matsumoto shook her head emphatically.

"I see. Well then, has there been any more trouble with the ryoka? I'm sorry, I haven't followed the news, hehe..."

Matsumoto shook her head once again.

"Was it really bad? I'm wondering because it's likely we'll have to deal with something similar on this end, but I haven't heard a clear report yet. Has Hisagi-san found out anything new about his attacker?"

Matsumoto was starting to turn slightly blue, She shrugged, while struggling to keep her breath in.

"Nevermind then. This should prove useful. I've found something very interesting from the samples Seree-chan brought me. See, if..." He looked up and saw Matsumoto holding both her hands over her mouth, with a blue face and puffed cheeks. "Are you okay?"

It was too much for her. She let go and breathed out, taking another big mouthful of air. Her blue slowly started to turn green and, once again with her hands over her mouth, she scrambled out of the room at full speed.

"Oh my."

"I will close the door now, owner." Tessai said, doing exactly that.

"Yes, yes, thank you!"

Back in Soul Society, there was much activity inside the headquarters of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute. A gigantic contraption made apparently of every tube in existence stood in the middle of the largest room at the top of the tower, and reached well beyond the roof. Reiatsu coursed up and down along the tubes, throwing loud crackles and sparks every so often.

Isane gulped and tried to stay as invisible as possible in her corner. Helping captain Kurotsuchi was her punishment for creating suck a ruckus the day before.

_I can't believe how things got out of control. I just rushed to tell Hisagi, then Matsumoto heard us, she said we should tell her captain, then before I knew it all the lieutenants were looking for their captains, shouting orders, the alarm was beating, and we were in full lockdown. I think she just wanted to get out of moving her stuff to the archives, sheesh.  
><em>

She sighed. On top of that she had had a nightmare and hadn't been able to sleep one bit all night.

"Nemu." Kurotsuchi called from his enormous console. "You can begin."

"Very well, Mayuri-sama."

"Excuse me..." Isane interrupted. "What should I do?"

"You can stay right there and not get in the way. This isn't a place for amateurs."

"Y-Yes..."

_Sigh._

Nemu poured some green liquid down a funnel on one of the pipes, There was a loud hissing sound and the reiatsu moving trough the pipes turned green as well, shaking even more violently. The clanking sounds redoubled in frequency and intensity.

Kurotsuchi grinned widely, and started working his keyboard. A few minutes later a bolt shot from the end of the pipe contraption, hitting the barrier over the Court of Pure Souls and for a few seconds turning it a light green. The garbage on the screen turned into a map of the Court, and it was littered with little yellow dots from top to bottom.

"Now." The 12th division's Captain added, with a self-satisfied air. "We calibrate the input data... And... We are done."

The dots on the screed disappeared, and all that was left was a map of the Court.

"Nemu, send a copy of the data to the Wave Measurement Lab."

"Yes, Mayuri-sama."

"Erm, excuse me..." Isane flinched under the intense gaze of Kurotsuchi, but managed to continue. "Have you found him?"

"Of course not, he is not in the Court. See?" He pointed at the map, in the tone of someone trying to make a five year old understand something trivial.

"But how do you know that works?"

If looks could kill, Kiyone would be sending invitations for friends and family to attend the funeral. Luckily for her, Kurotsuchi's flamboyant side won that particular battle and decided to merely show off how good he really was.

"As you can see here, I am perfectly capable of detecting even the smallest of trace of the ryoka's reiatsu from yesterday's battle."

He reached for the keyboard, and pressed two keys simultaneously. A gauge appeared on the screen, and as it went down, a series of yellow dots were superimposed on the map. Isane soon realized they were following the path the invader had used the day before.

"So we can tell where..."

"Of course!" He replied, exasperated. "This is where he entered the court, right under the nose of the Guardian of the White Way Gate, made the appearance of escaping through the wall here, something you simpletons fell for, and then quietly made it out through the Blue Stream Gate."

He pressed another key, and the screen went blank.

"And now off with you, I am quite busy indeed."

Isane was quite grateful for being allowed to flee the scene in one piece.

"So, we're all here then?" Urahara asked cheerfully, standing in front of a large bookrest holding a pile of very large papers.

In the front row, Rukia, Seree, and Matsumoto were sitting down on their knees. Behind them were Renji, Ichigo and Yaso.

And on the very top of the bookshelf at the back there was a black cat laying down in a very comfortable-looking position.

"Um, Yamada-san isn't here..." Seree said.

"Ah yes, nevermind him, it'd be rude to interrupt his work, I know how demanding a small shop can be at times!"

Hanatarō had to hold back a sneeze while counting change for his current customer at the convenience store.

"Very well, we shall start!" Urahara announced, flipping the first page of his wad of paper, revealing some crappy drawings worthy of Rukia herself.

Yaso couldn't help making a face.

_Do all these people suck at drawing or what?_

"As you know, we have been having encounters with a new kind of hollow."

"_We?_" Ichigo muttered, but was hushed by Rukia.

"Regular hollow are no trouble for the kind of high ranking Shinigami we have in Karakura town." He indicated the top of the drawing, where a Chappy Ichigo was whacking a weak-looking hollow on the head with his oversized Zanpakutō. "However, these new hollow seem to be considerably stronger," he pointed at a drawing of a scared-looking Shinigami with multiple colours on its hair being attacked by what, to the untrained eye, seemed like a multitude of tentacles, "and need some teamwork to be properly dealt with." He pointed at the final drawing, which showed Chappy Ichigo, Rukia and Renji cheering over the dead body of the hollow. X_X

Yaso looked around and noticed everyone was actually paying rapt attention to striped-hat.

_What the heck?_

"One early theory was that these hollows are the result of something interfering with the natural evolution they follow in Hueco Mundo." He flipped page and showed the (bad) drawing of a hollow going _Nom Nom Nom_ on another hollow, then flexing the newly gained muscles on its arms.

"Hollow evolve by eating each other and absorbing each other's powers." Seree added after turning to Yaso.

He gave her a skeptical look with a raised eyebrow, but before he could open his mouth, Urahara interrupted again.

"Yes, that's right. Anyway!" He flipped another page. "That was an interesting theory, but there was nothing to substantiate the facts. After analysing the samples you so kindly obtained..." He flipped the page and showed a drawing of the five Shinigami standing over a pile of dead hollows, "… I can now draw some conclusions."

_I hope you draw them better than you draw the illustrations..._

"First, each sample contained the individual reiatsu of those separate hollows that appeared to be in the same body." Flipping page, he showed a picture of three horribly, _horribly _drawn hollows standing next to each other, then the three of them tied by the waist into a mess of limbs and heads. "That is unlike the usual process of hollow evolution. Next, I found traces of one other reiatsu in common on each one of the samples." He pointed at the rope that was tying all the hollow together in his drawings. "While the residue was much smaller than the rest, it was noticeably more powerful."

"And this was holding them together?" Seree asked, enthusiastic like a child who had just figured out the next step of the lesson and wanted to show off to the teacher.

"Precisely!" Urahara flipped another page. "When this residue was removed, the reiatsu in the samples quickly reverted back to the separate components." It was the exact same drawing he had before, only in reverse.

_Do we actually need those crappy drawings?_

"And that was the same as the one I brought?" Matsumoto asked.

"No, not at all. All I can tell is that is from some sort of hollow, but that's it. The one you brought was without a doubt from a Shinigami. Katsutoshi, I presume."

They looked at each other. Everyone but Yaso, that is.

"But..." Seree started saying.

"Now, now, I'm just stating the facts we know. That doesn't mean there is no connection, other than the obvious that is."

"Right. Negación." Rukia mumbled thoughtfully.

"However, now that we know what to look for, we should be able to find it more easily." Urahara replied.

"Have you found anything about this guy from Soul Society yet?" Ichigo asked, but Seree shook her head negatively.

"I don't think Hisagi-san can do much about it for now, he's still on medical leave."

Seree noticed Matsumoto and Rukia looking at her, covering their grins and, she could swear it, growing fox ears in front of her very eyes.

_Why won't they stop that? Sheeeeeesh._

"For now, we will have to wait. Okay! Lesson over!" Urahara called, with a sharp clap of his hands. "Time for training!"

As he said that, there was a kind of muffled pop sound coming from behind them, followed by Yoruichi's voice.

"Let's go Yaso!"

"Waaah, the werecat woman again!" Ichigo complained, covering his blushed face. "Stop running around naked dammit!"

"What are you talking about Ichigo? You haven't even turned." Rukia said, in a tone of disappointment.

"Eh?"

Ichigo peeked at Rukia and saw her sigh and merely point behind him. When he turned, he got his face smack in front of Yoruichi's excellent pair of knockers.

"Aieeee!"

Yaso didn't even wait for the madness to end before starting to climb down the ladder to the training room.

_What a bunch..._


	29. Chapter 29

Seree winced as Yaso crashed down onto the ground when Yoruichi made a sweep he couldn't avoid. He stayed down on the ground recovering his breath, while the God of Flash stood right next to his head, looking down at him with a disappointed expression.

"We're not getting anywhere today, what's wrong with you?"

Yaso merely puffed and wiped the sweat off his face.

"Let's take a break then."

Yoruichi helped Yaso to his feet and he then sat a the rock where Urahara and the others were. He reached inside his sword bag, took a cellphone out of it, and after checking the screen he took an expression more of relief than disappointment.

"Here."

Seree was offering him a bottle of water. He took it muttering a thanks while still distractedly checking his cellphone.

"Something the matter?"

"Hm." He just muttered.

She sighed and sat down, shaking her multicolored hair in the process.

"Yoruichi-san! We're going to play a bit if you guys are done!" Rukia called, waving from a safe distance away, and standing next to Renji.

"Yeah, go right ahead!"

Rukia and Renji looked at each other and, exchanging a smile, they quickly stepped away and gained some distance. Rukia held her Zanpakutō in front of her, and started a slow spin.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"

Seree opened her eyes wide.

"Woah, they're using their Shikai? Isn't that dangerous?"

"It's okay, watch." Yoruichi replied, with an easy smile on her face.

"Bankai!"

Renji held his Zanpakutō upside down in front of him, and as he called out, he started glowing red as it extended, raising his reiatsu until it became a gigantic segmented bone snake. Seree felt her heart start racing under its pressure.

"Hihiō Zabimaru!"

"See? This is probably more for Rukia's benefit. If they're just using Zanpakutō, Renji will be fine."

"I... see, yes."

"Even Yaso here should realize who's got the upper hand at the moment."

"Uh?"

Yaso looked up and saw both Seree and Yoruichi looking at him.

"Welcome back to Earth."

Yaso was about to make a smartass remark, but Yoruichi made a gesture with her head towards the combatants. Yaso glanced at them for a few seconds, and then looked at Yoruichi again.

"Can you tell the difference between those two?"

"You mean besides the obvious?"

"Yeah, just trying to see if you can tell the difference between a shikai and a bankai."

"Uh..."

Yoruichi sighed, a gesture that visibly annoyed Yaso.

"Every Shinigami has a Zanpakutō, right?" She asked, and Yaso made a non-committal shrug. "Zanpakutō have their own souls, and are a reflection of the Shinigami's own soul and powers."

"Okay."

Yoruichi gave Yaso a surprised questioning look.

"It's the first time you actually agree with us about all this."

"That's how it went in the old days, isn't it?" He shrugged. "The sword is the soul of the samurai."

"Ieyasu." Yoruichi nodded. "But it's more than human tradition."

Again, Yaso shrugged in half-acknowledgement.

"Each Zanpakutō has a name, one that the Shinigami must learn if they are to fight together and grow in power. Shikai is the first stage of its power, when the Shinigami has learned to travel to his inner world and learned the name of his Zanpakutō. Bankai is the second stage, when the Shinigami materializes the spirit of his Zanpakutō and consequently subjugates it. Most Shinigami can learn the name of their Zanpakutō at some point, but few will ever master it to the point of reaching Bankai. Even when subjugation has happened, it could take a decade before it is truly mastered."

"Uh-huh."

"What do you think?"

"Like I said, it's an interesting philosophy."

"You didn't _say..._"

"Okay, I _implied_ it."

Yoruichi smirked, which made Yaso shut up, then smile, shaking his head.

"Don't be so gloomy, Yaso."

"Right, right." He took another look at his cellphone, then tossed it back in the bag.

Back on the field, Rukia was giving Zabimaru a run for its money. She had pitted her Hakuren against Renji's Hikōtsu Taihō with surprising effectiveness, and constantly tried to keep at least part of the giant segmented snake dismantled. In the end it became clear than with a pure Zanpakutō fight, Rukia couldn't overpower Zabimaru, but Seree thought it a sight to behold.

_How amazing. And you can tell they know each other so well... Sigh._

"Don't tell me you're getting all gloomy now, Seree."

"Ah! Not at all! Hehehe. I was just thinking how amazing Kuchiki-dono and Lieutenant Abarai are."

"Why don't you give it a try?"

Seree's face changed so suddenly a casual observer would've guessed Yoruichi had suggested she strip naked, take a honey bath, and throw herself into a pit of hungry bears.

"No way! Nononono! Are you cr- No way!"

Completely ignoring her, Yoruichi turned to Renji and Rukia and called them.

"Ooooooi! Renji! Rukia!" She waved until the two stopped fighting and looked at her. "Seree wants to give it a try too!"

"Yoruichi-saaaan ;_;"

"Sure! Come over, Seree-chan!" Rukia called, while they sealed their Zanpakutō.

"K-Kuchiki-dono..."

"Ora, come on, don't make Rukia wait."

"But..." She sighed, standing up and walking towards Rukia.

"You going to fight in your gigai?" Rukia asked, smiling.

"Right! Um, sorry, eh-hehehe, I was so distracted that..."

She gulped her soul candy and sent Chappy away, an order she obeyed to the letter, running up the ladder with a big smile to, in her own words, "look for candy!"

"Awww, Chappy's so cute!" Rukia said, with sparkling eyes.

"I know!" Seree agreed.

"Anyway! To start off, let me see your shikai."

"Eeeeeh? We're going to fight with shikai?" She asked, looking very scared.

"Well, if you want to..."

"No! Of course not!"

"Right." Rukia smiled. "But I would like to see what it is it can do, to get an idea of how you should practice."

"Uh... Okay..." She raised her blade vertically with the flat in front of her face. "Winter, Summer, bloom unabashed..." A red flash ran the length of the blade as it turned white and Seree slashed downwards. "Yaezakura!"

"Hmmmm, an elemental Zanpakutō. What can it do?"

"Well... We can freeze things if I hold the back of Yaezakura on it, and the edge is hot, and, um... We kinda don't have any other special abilities."

"Ah! But it's okay, that can take time. It looks to me like a bit like a double edged sword, wouldn't you say? Can it freeze you if it touches you?"

"Yes." Seree admitted, remembering the opposite happening when trying to freeze the hollow she battled with Hisagi. "Or if I hold the back to a hollow... Um..."

"Don't sound so worried, Seree-chan."

"I'm sorry."

"Jeez, and now you're apologizing? Come on, let's start with some basic form."

Seree sealed Yaezakura, and they spent a good half an hour going over the basics, with Rukia trying to correct Seree's form. She drove the point home by pushing harder than Seree could hold on a basic block until her Zanpakutō was laying firmly on her shoulder.

"See what I mean? Try to deflect the strikes, not simply block them. It will make the pace of combat a bit faster, but you have to do it if you want to avoid your Zanpakutō's drawback."

"Yes, Kuchiki-dono!"

"Well, I'm glad I let Rukia do this." Renji said with a cocky grin. "I'd have been bored out of my mind."

He glanced at Yaso, but he didn't move a muscle, sitting on the rock leaning forward with his hands under his jaw. While he was looking in the direction of the two girls, his eyes were so fixed it was obvious he wasn't really following any of it. Undeterred, Renji continued.

"It's going to be a hundred years before that girlie is ready, what the hell is she doing out here anyway?"

Yaso barely glanced at him, then continued looking away. Seree made a sweep that forced Rukia to block and jump back.

"Well at least she's hitting something, instead of whiffing at the air."

He looked at Yaso pointedly, and he merely glanced at him again, then murmured something.

"What's that? You got a problem?" Renji asked, still smirking.

"Not tonight..."

"Excuse _me_, then, if you don't want to hear how much you suck _tonight. _Ain't gonna change a damn thing, you know."

"Whatever..."

_The heck? Now he's actually startin' to piss me off, I just wanted to poke him a bit and see how good he is._

"What's the problem kiddo? Afraid?"

"Now, now, Abarai-kun..." Urahara admonished him.

"Of what, you?" Yaso interrupted, nonchalantly, without even looking at him.

_Oh it's fucking on, you little runt._

"Yeah, poor lil' boy's scared, why don't you run to your momma then."

Yaso had frozen at that, and while Renji couldn't see his face, it was obvious he had touched a nerve. Spurred by his success, he dug some more.

"Guess momma's boy can't do anything when she's not around to hide him under her skirt."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

_Bingo!_

"Make me." Renji answered, with a cocky smile, putting his left hand on the tsuka of his Zanpakutō.

Yaso looked at him for what seemed like an eternity, and without another word he took his sword and stood up, walking towards the two girls.

"So," Rukia was saying, "when you deflect, you have to think two moves ahead, think of how you can counter, and how you..."

She stopped talking when she noticed Seree was looking behind her; turning, she saw Yaso walking towards them followed at a short distance by Renji.

"Rukia!" Renji called. "We're gonna try a bit too, you girls mind?"

"Renji... Really now, what are you doing?"

"Ah? Nothing, just a bit of practice, it's all good isn't it?"

"You're always picking fights..."

Rukia and Renji continued talking, while Yaso simply stopped walking not far from Seree. He was looking at the ground, but Seree could barely see his eyes.

"Itou-san..."

"Get out."

Dry, cold, and to the point. Seree took a step back as if she had been physically pushed by Yaso. His tone of voice had sent a chill down her spine. Two more steps, and she turned and ran towards Rukia.

"Kuchiki-dono! Is this a good idea?"

"You know," Rukia spoke in the voice of someone who had simply given up, looking at the two men, "Renji's always picking fights. But I don't know why they're getting so worked up really."

"Worked up... That's putting it mildly! Have you seen Itou-san's face?"

"The boys are just being boys." Yoruichi answered, shrugging. "Let's just wait and see."

Renji stood a few meters in front of Yaso, unsheathing Zabimaru and altogether obviously enjoying the situation. Yaso simply stood, looking down at Renji's feet and holding his sheathed katana with his left hand.

"Whenever you're ready, kiddo."

It was a few seconds before Yaso reacted. He crouched slightly and, with half a step back, charged at Renji. He unsheathed and attacked in the same motion, which Renji deflected easily, and when he tried to hit the Shinigami with the saya, he ducked under the attack without trouble.

_Hah, Ikkaku does that all the time. And he's much faster than you, kiddo._

Renji countered with a powerful blow that forced Yaso to block. He was holding the sword with only one hand, and as Renji pressed harder, his grip started to give out. To the Shinigami's surprise, Yaso suddenly let go and, levering it around his wrist, he let his sword spin and grabbed the tsuka again after half a turn. His somewhat forced position let him do a vertical slash nonetheless, and Renji had jump back to dodge, feeling the blade grazing his clothes.

"Not bad! You-"

Yaso didn't even let him speak before he attacked again, now with the saya properly tucked under his sash and with a firm grip on his weapon. Renji blocked, and for a few seconds both men pressed their swords against the other's. Renji was the first one to stop, trying to make Yaso lose his balance with the sudden lose of leverage, but Yaso's reaction was almost instantaneously as he too stopped pressing and took a step back.

The grin Renji had been sporting had turned into a grimace of tension, with firmly clenched teeth and an intensity beyond what one usually sees during a training session. The intensity on Yaso's face was only given away by that of his gaze.

After a very sort respite, Renji disappeared with a blur of shunpo, but Yaso's reaction was excellent; he crouched and reached out with his left leg, hitting Renji as he passed.

"The hell?"

The impact had been almost electrical. The reiatsu on his legs broke with a zap, and the impact shin to shin was almost bone-cracking loud. Yaso pivoted on his right leg and slashed downwards, but Renji rolled out of the way. Yaso's sword had gone an inch under the soil, and with a side sweep he threw a cloud of dust over Renji's face. He covered it and through the mist that got into his eyes, barely managed to see Yaso's attack coming, blocking it precariously. Yaso didn't stop, and using his forward momentum gave his opponent a headbutt to his head, the noise of which repeated in Renji's ears as he took a stumbling step backwards. Without thinking he leaped back with shunpo, landing with a tumble but managing to stand upright immediately.

He rubbed his eyes and then his forehead, looking at Yaso.

"Wanna play rough, huh? Right then." He raised his Zanpakutō, pointing forward and passed his left hand over it, calling its name. "Howl, Zabimaru!"

"Woah! Hold on a second..." Seree said.

"Renji! What the heck are you doing?" Rukia called.

They were ignored.

"Alright bro, let's see what you've got now!"

Renji pushed forward and launched an attack with Zabimaru, and the Zanpakutō extended its segments, flying towards Yaso. He sidestepped, but Renji smirked and, with a flick of his wrist, changed the trajectory. Zabimaru arched along its length, and moved towards the retreating Yaso. He put his katana to one of the inter-segmental pieces, bending the cables. As Zabimaru arched, it started enveloping him. Yaso pushed upwards and rolled back, ducking under the moving blade.

The next step Yaso took switched directions completely, but Renji did a second move, and once again Zabimaru arched outwards towards his right and the attacking Yaso. For a second time, Yaso managed to duck under the serpentine blade, but his move made Renji smile.

_Not good enough kiddo, you better dodg- the hell?_

Zabimaru had started retracting, as it was the third sweep, and Renji was doing a simple slash in front of him to force Yaso to step back.

But he was ignoring the attack completely, and simply lunging at Renji. The Shinigami felt time slowing down as his heartbeat raced up.

_Shit, is he insane?_

The twin sound of nearly simultaneous impacts was loud enough to make an echo in the underground room.

Yoruichi was standing between the two of them, with her orange jumper reduced to rags and reiatsu flowing over her legs and arms, arcing off through her back. Her left foot was raised to Renji's face after deflecting Yaso's blade, and her right arm was in front of Yaso's stomach after deflecting Zabimaru. With a spin, she kicked Renji on the face and punched Yaso on the stomach, sending both of them tumbling back.

"What are you two idiots doing?"


	30. Chapter 30

Renji stood up with a hand on the large bruise on his face Yoruichi had just given him, and looked quite annoyed.

"You damn werecat woman, what the heck are you-"

"Renji, stop that!"

Rukia had run to his side and was holding him back by the arm.

"Oi Rukia, what are you doing?"

"Jeez, you're the one who picked the fight in the first place, give it a rest already!"

On the opposite side, Yaso struggled to his feet and without a second word started walking towards Renji.

"Stop it, Itou-san!" Seree called, pulling at his sleeve. As soon as she had touched he pulled back his arm hard and turned towards her, and Seree took a quick step back while her right hand unconsciously placed itself over the tsuka of her Zanpakutō. However, Yaso merely looked at her.

_I thought he was going to attack me... It was just like that first time._

"I'm fucking sick of this." He suddenly said, throwing his katana away, followed by the saya. His sudden outburst had caught everyone by surprise. Without another word, he took his cellphone from his bag, and walked off towards the ladder.

"Itou-san!"

Seree quickly gathered all the parts he had discarded and chased after him, while everyone else just looked at them go.

"Sheesh Renji, what did you say to him?" Ichigo asked.

"What, you want some too?"

"What was that you dumbass?" Ichigo replied, getting on Renji's face with a vein popping out on his forehead.

"Will you two knock it off already?" Rukia chided them.

The walk back home was the longest Seree could remember. Yaso walked in glacial silence and didn't even look at her. After three tries, she decided it was best to stay silent and just walk with him. She carried the bundle with the discarded katana like it was a fragile little child in her arms.

_Is this okay? He's not even told me to go away or anything... He's just not saying anything. Why is he bottling up like that? Why did he blow up like that anyway? Dammit Lieutenant!_

When the door to the apartment opened, Yaso and Seree entered without a word.

"Ah, welcome back! Itou-san! Miyanaga-san!" Hanatarō greeted them, he was wearing an apron and appeared to be busy cooking. "I'm sorry, we had no leftovers today, and the groceries in the fridge looked like they'd spoil soon if they weren't used, so... Um..."

Without a second glance at him, Yaso opened one of the kitchen drawers, took a pill from it, and walked to his room, closing the door behind him without a slam.

"Erm... Miyanaga-san, what's the matter?"

Seree put the bundle on the kitchen counter and sighed.

"I don't know. Lieutenant Abarai and him had a fight, but this is a bit odd."

Her cellphone suddenly started beeping, and after the relief of seeing it wasn't a hollow alert, she picked up the call.

"Hello? Ah, Kuchiki-dono!"

"Hi. Just calling to see if Yaso was still annoyed?"

"Kunchiki-dono..." Seree sighed again. "I don't know, he has this long face, and we walked home in stony silence, and he just went straight to bed, and I don't know what to do."

"I see. I'd say he's overreacting, but the way he blew up... Seree-chan, have you met any of his friends or his family?"

"Eh? Why?"

"I don't know what is going on with him, but he is seriously stressed out. If he doesn't let go a bit he is going to blow up, so I'd say he needs to talk to someone."

"I see. I haven't met anyone, I'm sorry."

"Okay." Rukia added, after a short pause. "Let's just give him some space then."

"But I want to help him..."

Seree was talking in a very soft voice at that point, and without even thinking she had walked into the guest room she had claimed as her own. She suddenly realized what she was saying and started blushing, sure that a cheeky retort was coming from Rukia. Yet nothing of the sort happened.

"I know. But I don't think _we_ can do much."

"Okay..."

"Don't sound so gloomy, Seree-chan. Just let him cool off and maybe he'll open up some, right?"

"Yes. Thank you, Kuchiki-dono."

"Sure, sure. Talk to you later."

"Ah, Kuchiki-dono, one moment please!"

"What is it?"

"Wait..."

Seree walked out of her room as softly as she could, and made it to the drawer Yaso was taking pills from, under the surprised gaze of Hanatarō. Soon she found what she was looking for.

"Kurosaki-kun has a clinic, right?"

"Yes, his father does. Why?"

"Can you ask him what... Uh... I can't read this label."

"Label? Of what?"

"Just some medicine, I think..."

"It's western characters probably, can you describe them?"

With some difficulty, Seree spelled out A-R-I-P-I-P-R-A-Z-O-L-E and Rukia promised to look into it. She felt very conflicted after that, on the one hand she was prying on something she had no business prying into, and on the other she was just worried about Yaso.

"Ara, cheer up Miyanaga-san. Here, let's have dinner, you'll feel better. I'm sure we'll all be less gloomy in the morning."

"I hope so, Yamada-san."

The last thing in Seree's mind was sleep. She lay in bed for hours, just staring at the ceiling while the gears in her head kept turning and turning. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't figure out what was happening.

_I should have asked Lieutenant Abarai what he had told Itou-san. Really now! What is a hooligan like him doing in Captain Kuchiki's division! And a Lieutenant no less! I wish Captain Unohana was here, she'd know what I should do; and would put him in his place too!_

Renji kept waking up every so often with shivers running up his spine, and he didn't know why.

_Kuchiki-dono is probably right, I'll just let Itou-san cool down a bit. Maybe tomorrow will be better, like Yamada-san said. Sigh, it's getting light out there already._

The horizon was starting to clear up slightly, as sunrise approached. It was in this perfect silence that a sudden ringing sound nearly jolted Seree out of bed. It was coming from Yaso's room, and it was quietly silenced.

"Hello?" He answered his cellphone in a quick voice. There was some silence, then another phrase, this one even more excited. "I'll be right there!"

Seree had no time to wonder, she followed the sounds of Yaso suddenly leaving his room and, with quick steps, marching across the apartment. She got out of bed as fast as she could, but by the time she opened her door all she could catch was a glimpse of Yaso leaving the apartment at a good pace, closing the door behind him with a slam. Hanatarō stirred and muttered something on the sofa, but went back to sleep.

She rushed to the window, and saw Yaso walk down the street at a very fast pace. He was wearing the same clothes as the day before. In fact, despite the distance, Seree thought he had just slept in those clothes, if he had slept at all. And when she looked around her, she saw Yaso had left his katana behind again. She sighed; he had thrown it away at Urahara's place, so she didn't see much point taking it and chasing after him, no matter how much she wanted to.

She lay down in bed and closed her eyes, but just an instant later she was aroused by someone softly shaking her shoulder.

"Seree-chan, wake up."

When she opened her eyes Rukia's face was just a few inches over hers. In her surprise she jumped up, and with a hollow-sounding *plonk* their foreheads collided.

"Kuchiki... dono!" Seree finally answered, pressing on her forehead with both hands.

"We've been trying to reach you all morning!" Rukia complained, keeping the palm of her right hand against her own head. "And you're still in bed?"

"I'm sorry! I couldn't sleep all night until..."

"Until?"

"Oh! Well, it was light outside when I finally fell asleep." She suddenly realized _Kuchiki-dono _had come to find her. "Wah! Is there a problem? What happened?"

"No, relax, nothing. Yesterday you sounded so down I decided to check on you, and when you didn't answer the call we decided to come down here and find you."

Seree reached her cellphone communicator and opened it, then slammed it close in frustration.

"I'm sorry, it seems I'm out of batteries."

"Really now."

"I'll be right out!" She exclaimed, jumping out of bed, but stopping mid-run as she realized something. "Wait, you said '_we_'?"

Rukia opened the door of her room and pointed out at Matsumoto, who was munching on a large cookie and closing the door of the cabinet she had just finished ransacking.

"So." Rukia asked, when Seree finally came out of her room dressed and ready and they all were seated in the small living room. "What else happened yesterday?"

"Nothing much after you called." Seree half-muttered, dejected. "Itou-san went straight to bed and we didn't see him until... Well, he received a call very early in the morning, and he left in a hurry, I didn't even get a chance to see him."

"Hmmm, very suspicious." Matsumoto said, prompting an immediate response from Seree.

"Suspicious? Worrying! That's what it is! How can you call it suspicious? Itou-san is very upset, and I don't know why. And yes, you can make fun of me if you want! I wish he'd tell me, okay?"

Seree turned and looked down, away from the other two. Just a few seconds later, Matsumoto was crouching in front of her, and smiling.

"You know what you need?"

"Ah?" Seree looked up, surprised.

"Ice-cream!" ^_^

"Ice... cream?"

"Yes!" Matsumoto stood up and dragged Seree to her feet. "You're getting all gloomy now, and I won't have it! Come on, you're coming with us!"

"But..."

"No complaints!" Rukia responded.

With Matsumoto dragging her by the arm, and Rukia pushing at her back with both arms, they were soon out of the apartment and on their way out of the building.

"You need to see all the wonderful things the real world has to offer!" Matsumoto cheered, as if it were a battlecry, punching the air over her head with her fist.

"Kuchiki-dono, does Matsumoto-san do this often?"

"You have no idea." Rukia replied, with a soft smile.


	31. Chapter 31

It was starting to get dark when Seree got back to the apartment. She struggled to open the door, laden as she was with enough shopping to last her a few lifetimes. Matsumoto had obviously been the mastermind behind that.

To her surprise, the place was dark and quiet. She stumbled in the dark to her room, dropped all the bags on her bed, and proceeded to explore the kitchen. There was a note on the counter, in a very visible place.

_Miyanaga-san, Lieutenant Abarai came looking for Rukia-san, Matsumoto-san and you, but since you were nowhere to be found I'm going with him for some hollow hunting._

_Dinner is in the fridge._

_-Hanatarō._

"Phew, I'm almost glad I wasn't here, this was too fun! I'm sure Yamada-san will be fine. Lieutenant Abarai can take care of the problem by himself, serves him right!"

She tiptoed to Yaso's room and, after knocking softly, opened the door. The room was empty, with the bedsheets crumpled and all signs that obviously Yaso had left in a hurry. She spent a few minutes tidying it up.

_If Itou-san comes to a clean room it'll cheer him more than coming back to this mess, I'm sure!_

Lastly, she took the katana and left it propped against the wall next to his bed. She pondered about leaving it on the bed itself, but figured Yaso may take it wrong. With nothing else left to do, she sat on the sofa to wait for Yaso and have dinner, turned the TV on, and curled up in a comfortable position.

Too comfortable, perhaps. It took her all of five minutes after finishing her dinner to fall asleep.

"Miyanaga-san..."

Someone was shaking her shoulder gently, calling her name. She murmured "_Yaso_" before opening her eyes and seeing it was Hanatarō.

"Oh, Yamada-san, welcome back." She blinked twice, and saw it was deep night already. "I must have dozed off."

"I can see that, eh-hehehe."

"How did the hollow hunting go?" Seree asked, seating herself up in proper position on the sofa.

"It was really tiring chasing after Lieutenant Abarai, I can't use shunpo, but it was fine. Ichigo-san helped too."

"That's good. Were there any of those merged hollow?"

"Ah, yes! It was very scary, I had never seen them before! But with the two of them they did fine, one of them was chasing me at one point, but Ichigo-san really saved me there."

"Well, I'm glad it all went so well. With your help I bet they went home without a scratch."

"Ah-hehehe." Hanatarō scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. "They only got some minor wounds, so it wasn't too bad. And how did your day go? Abarai-san was very annoyed at not having found any of you."

"It was great!" Seree replied, ignoring the comment about Renji completely. "First we went and ate ice-cream, which was soooo yummy! I've never had anything like that in Soul Society! And then we went shopping, there's so many cute things here in the Real World! And Rangiku-san knows all the great stores and they know her too, which was so funny! I kinda spent a bit too much but it was so worth it, who knows when I'll have a chance to do this again! And there's this _huuuuuge_ wheel that you can ride, and takes you to the top and you can see all of Karakura town, it's magnificent!"

Seree's eyes were practically sparkling when she recounted the experiences of the day, with Hanatarō politely smiling and agreeing with her. Until he started to nod sleepily.

"Oh I'm sorry Yamada-san, you must be tired!"

"A little bit, yes."

"Do... Um, do you mind if I stay here? I want to wait for Itou-san."

"Ah? He's not back yet?"

"Well n- wait a minute." She suddenly realized she had been sleeping, so she tiptoed to Yaso's room and knocked. The room was empty, and everything was just as she had left it. "No, he's not back yet... Unless he's been here while I was asleep and then went away?"

"I don't know... Well, I don't mind, Miyanaga-san."

"Thanks!"

While Hanatarō slept, Seree spent the rest of her time two feet away from the TV, playing at very low volume. It was absolutely mesmerizing, first there was a program speaking of all the occurrences in the Real World in that same day, which she found intriguing due to the intelligence gathering potential it displayed, then they actually predicted what the weather would be like the next day. Afterwards, a string of "_films_", a term she had only learned in the real world, and that was her favourite part. There were some Samurai defending a village against impossible odds, then some film with people speaking a language she couldn't possibly understand but she thought sounded absolutely captivating, and showing an absolutely beautiful city that was nothing like Karakura town.

_I have to find out where this Paris is, it looks amazing! I never thought there would be such a variety of places here in the Real World, humans are really incredible. Maybe I could ask Itou-san, wouldn't it be great to visit that place with him?_

At that moment she became vaguely aware of some chirping noises coming from the outside. Looking through the window, she saw it was dawning.

_Itou-san isn't back yet? It's not even late by now, it's early!_

Her slight worry was beginning to gnaw at her when Hanatarō woke up and got ready to go to work. By lunchtime she was in full blown panic.

"Kuchiki-dono!" She practically screamed at the cellphone. "Itou-san isn't back!"

"Seree-chan, calm down, he..."

"He's been gone two nights now! What if Katsutoshi found him? He was on his own, and he wasn't even armed! We have to find him!"

"Okay, okay, we'll find him, stop worrying."

"Um, could you... Um... AskKurosaki-kunforhelp?"

"Pardon me?"

"Could you ask Kurosaki-kun for help?" She repeated more slowly, annoyed at herself. "He must know how to find someone here in the real world, right?"

"Sure! The substitute Shinigami helps Shinigami find lost items and comrades when in the real world, he has to help!" She replied cheerfully.

"That's great. I'll be waiting!"

She gulped her soul candy and instructed Chappy to stay in the apartment and not go anywhere. Checking that the cellphone actually had battery this time, which it did, she rushed downstairs and paced impatiently along the sidewalk until Rukia and Ichigo appeared.

"You know, it's a really big town to find someone. Um... Why are you in Shinigami form?"

"I can run faster and use shunpo like this! So, where do we find him? Do humans keep butterflies for these occasions somewhere? Can we buy one or two?"

"Oi, oi, calm down. The way to find someone in the real world is the traditional way: look." Ichigo replied, annoyed. "We don't even know where to start."

"Seree-chan." Rukia interrupted. "Do you know where Itou-san works, or..."

"He told me he doesn't have a job at the moment. Other than that, he has been going somewhere every morning but..." Seree looked around and suddenly her eyes lit up. "I know! He's been coming out of one of these big things, what do you call them..."

"Bus?" Ichigo offered, looking at where Seree was pointing.

"Yes! Right there. We could ask the other people who use it or something?"

"Not likely. You get hundreds of people in every bus every day." Ichigo walked to the bus stop, followed by the two girls. "I guess it's as good a place as any to start. But what if he comes back?"

"Chappy is guarding the apartment!" Seree replied enthusiastically.

"Okay. Let's see..." Ichigo followed the bus route with his finger on the large map at the stop. "I'll start at this stop, it's in the business centre and he could be in a number of places here. Rukia, you check here at the river. And Seree, you're fourth division right? You shouldn't have a problem checking here."

"Hm? What's there?"

"The city library and the hospital. Which is ironic really."

"Ironic?" Seree asked.

"Putting a place where ambulances are constantly passing next to a place where people are supposed to be quiet. These are the only stops that have anything remotely interesting in this bus route, but he could be switching at some point. If you don't find anything, we'll try something else."

"Okay. Thanks Kurosaki-kun!" Seree called enthusiastically before taking off at full speed.

"Woah, did she actually thank me?"

"Don't make a big deal out of it, you fool."

"Right, right. Why's she so panicked anyway?"

"Ichigo, you're so clueless..." Rukia replied, shaking her head.

Seree rushed through the crowded streets, avoiding people by jumping from lamppost to lamppost, to utility pole, and to anything that perched above the street high enough to avoid everything. All the time she was constantly searching left to right, and thrice she had stopped because she thought she had seen Yaso, only to be very disappointed when it turned out not to be him.

When she arrived at her destination, she was surprised to see the bus stop looked identical to the one next to Yaso's apartment. What amazing craftsmanship! Not knowing where to start, she headed for the library. She hadn't made two steps before all hell broke loose and some amazingly noisy vehicle with red flashing lights passed at incredible speed just next to her. As the vehicle sped away, it left a very spooked and tense-looking Seree holding her Zanpakutō in a trembling and firm grasp.

_Scared the soul out of me! These humans are crazy sometimes!_

With her heart still beating for retreat in her chest, she walked into the library through the nearest wall and started looking. It was an amazing building, half the outside walls were made of mirrored glass, and she walked in an out at least half a dozen times amazed that on one side the glass looked almost like a mirror, and on the other it was so clear it may as well not have been there. The internal architecture was flash and eye-catching, with two levels for the bookcases connected by a single twisty stair and a row of very comfortable looking seats in front of the large wall-windows. A series of more conventional work desks was the only thing that looked familiar to her, that and the books of course. It was wonderful, a lovely place to sit and read.

She spent too much time looking around and not enough looking _for, _until she remembered what she was there for. But try as she may, she couldn't find Yaso anywhere. With a heavy sigh, she said farewell to the wonderful place and made it to the hospital, after a second jolt from one of those infernal contraptions that constantly broke the silence of the library.

_I guess that's what Kurosaki-kun said was so ironic._

The hospital had a familiar air, and she soon found herself quite at ease moving inside. It was more stressful when she stumbled upon the emergency room, and after giving a poor lost soul a soul burial there, she decided it would be best to ask some of the residents before sending them to Soul Society.

"Excuse me..."

"Oh, and you are?" The soul of a young woman wearing hospital clothes asked.

"Miyanaga Seree, a Shinigami. Have you seen a young man about this tall..." She put a hand a foot above her head. "With short hair and kind of deep seated eyes? He was wearing sports clothes."

"Have you lost a soul?"

"No, he's alive actually."

"Oh! Well, I'm sorry, I'm afraid I haven't."

"Okay, thank you."

*Twack*

Seree planted the end of the tsuka of her katana on the soul's forehead, and with a smile she went on her way to the next world. She found another two souls wandering around, and while the first one went to the other side on his own before he had even finished answering, the second one, a kind old lady who just liked to be around, pointed her to one of the rooms.

"A young man like that has been coming and going out of that room over there..." She pointed ahead. "I don't think it'll be long now though."

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"The poor dear looks like giving up, I can tell, you see, I've been here a while."

"He... what? Thanks!"

Without thinking, Seree rushed to the room and walked in through the closed door. The room was somewhat dark, with the curtains partly closed giving it a relaxing penumbra to move about. On the bed there was a woman, not particularly old, perhaps mid forties or so, but looking weary past her age. Seree walked slowly towards her, and noticed her features. The deep seated eyes and the oval face, the resemblance with Yaso was unmistakable. On a small table next to the hospital bed there was a frame with a picture of her in her younger days, next to a strong looking man and a small boy. Yaso as a kid, for sure, and that must be his father.

The woman opened her eyes, looked straight into Seree's, and smiled.

"Hello." She said with a very faint voice.

Seree opened her eyes wide, speechless.

_She can see me too? It's in the family I guess, wow._

To her surprise, the woman turned her head to the other side and smiled.

"Look darling, we have a visitor."

Seree looked the way the woman was, but there was nothing there. No person, no soul, no ghost. The woman closed her eyes and seemed to fall asleep. With a very soft step, Seree approached her and, placing both hands over her chest, she let her reiatsu rise slowly, with a cool blue glow that gave the room a second set of shadows.

_My laying of hands isn't too good, but maybe..._

After a few seconds she stopped, sighing. She remembered one of Captain Unohana's lessons about healing kidō. _When a soul is ready to move on, no amount of healing kidō will ever be able to stop it from re-entering the circle of reincarnation, be it in Soul Society or the real world_. She had never understood what she had meant until that very moment.

_She's dying. You... You IDIOT! What are you doing here? You have no right to pry into Itou-san's life like this!_

Before she had finished berating herself, she heard the door opening. Things happened very slowly, she turned and her eyes met those of Yaso as he entered the room. He looked... Seree didn't stick around to see enough, the impression she got was that he was surprised. Her face, on the other hand, showed pure panic. It was just an instant that their gazes met, but Seree knew it was enough. Without even thinking, her feet had moved on their own, and she had used shunpo to flee the room through the wall. A couple of jumps and she landed on the roof, above the window to Yaso's mother's room.

Her breathing was very fast, and made a high pitched noise through a constriction on her throat. She knelt down sitting on the ground, and put both hands on her head, covering her multicolored hair.

_Idiot! IDIOT! Why did you run away? Why didn't you just apologize? What were you doing there in the first place? You complete IDIOT!_


	32. Chapter 32

Seree had been sitting at the edge of the hospital's roof for she didn't know how long. She had completely lost track of time, and all she could do was to look down. A dozen times she had thought of going back to apologize, and a dozen times she had talked herself out of it.

_It'll have to wait, I can't walk in there now._

The beeping of her cellphone woke her out of her reverie.

"H-Hello?"

"Seree-chan? Where are you? We have been waiting for you to show up, did you find anything?"

"Kuchiki-dono! I... Yes, I'm sorry. I found Itou-san..." She answered in a progressively more dispirited voice, until it became just a mumble.

"Eh? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry Kuchiki-dono, you were telling me not to worry, and I didn't listen, and now I stuck my nose in something, and..."

"I see." There was a long pause where neither of them said anything, then Rukia spoke again. "Maybe you should get back now."

"I-I'm staying for now..."

_There's something I have to do, make sure her soul moves on to Soul Society._

"Seree?"

"Yes. I'll talk with you later. Thank you, Kuchiki-dono."

_It won't be long now._

She thought about the old lady's spirit, and sighed. She was probably right. Her mind was made up, she'd wait for as long as necessary, and after that she'd apologize to Yaso. And it didn't matter how long it'd take.

"Oh my, you look down, Shinigami-san."

Seree turned and saw the spirit of the old lady standing behind her.

_Why is she up here?_

"Yeah." She said simply, turning away.

"Tell auntie about it, I'm sure you will feel better." The old lady replied, after sitting next to her.

"It's fine..."

The old woman looked at Seree for a while, then merely shook her head.

"He's a good boy."

Seree opened her eyes wide in surprise and turned to the old woman, who was simply smiling, a knowing smile of someone with enough experience in life.

"I had no right to butt in like that." Seree finally said.

"Probably." She answered simply, and continued after a long pause. "Sometimes people ush others away because they want to be left alone. And sometimes they just want you to go after them."

"So which is it?" Seree asked hopeful.

"It's hard to tell. Often they don't even know it themselves."

"But I screwed up..."

"We all do that sometimes, because we care. It's a fact of life."

"It doesn't make me feel better." Seree sighed.

"It's not supposed to. Just something you have to learn."

Seree looked at the old lady, who was smiling at her kindly. A soft light started engulfing her, and Seree knew she was ready. She knelt in front of the old lady and, unsheathing her Zanpakutō, performed a soul burial.

"Do your best, Shinigami-san!" Was the last thing the old lady told her.

It was well past midnight when the moment finally came. Seree could feel it from the roof of the hospital, there was a soft glow as the soul left the body. She wondered if Yaso would be able to see her, and if they'd be able to say a last farewell. It was hard to tell, even if Yaso was probably right next to her, the voyage of a soul is a very personal thing.

"So I really did see you back there."

Seree witnessed with some surprise the soul of Yaso's mother appearing before her on the roof of the hospital. She was smiling, the same kind smile she had given her when she had walked into the room.

"You really saw me?"

"Yes. I realize it now, so much of what I was seeing wasn't real, I couldn't quite tell."

_Look darling, we have a visitor. _Seree remembered.

"Poor Yaso. I can't imagine what I put him through."

"Ah... Erm..."

The woman looked up and smiled.

"You must be Seree-chan."

"You know me?"

"Yes. Yaso was talking about this girl with crazy hair he was seeing that was turning his life upside down. What a rude boy, I think your hair is beautiful."

"Ah." She automatically put her hands over her head, trying to cover her hair. "Thank you. I..."

_I have so many questions!_

"My husband is waiting for me.. She turned and looked to the sky, and a soft glow began to envelop her. "I know it now. I thought he was by my side then, but now I know he wasn't there."

"Um, Itou-san's mom..." _Gee, I don't know her name. _"Aren't you going to say goodbye to him? He... kinda looks like he could use it."

She turned her gaze towards Seree, and her smile turned into a sad one. She shook her head.

"He wouldn't accept it now. Maybe, years ago, but not now. He's been through all this on his own, he would take it all wrong. It's best if I just go quietly." She sighed. "I wish it would have been different." She looked to the sky again. "My husband is waiting."

_The soul's path is a very personal one, Seree, do not try to interfere when you are not wanted._

Seree remembered the second part of Captain Unohana's lesson about the circle of reincarnation. The lessons were really hitting home now, and she wished it didn't have to be that way.

With a sigh, she reached for her Zanpakutō. At that moment, she was hit with a reiatsu, freezing her and Yaso's mother for an instant.

"Hollow!"

The glow around the soul disappeared and she looked very frightened. A hollow portal appeared next to her, and a monstrous arm reached for the very frightened woman, but it was sliced clean when Seree pounced at full speed with shunpo.

"Oh you dirty... Not in your lifetime, not here, not her! Over my dead body!" She raised her Zanpakutō as the portal disappeared. "Winter, Summer, bloom unabashed..." The portal reappeared and a very annoyed hollow walked off, grunting and shouting in pain. "Yaezakura!"

The Zanpakutō shivered as it flashed white and awoke with a red light running through its length.

_Yaezakura, we can't let him touch her._

She felt her own Zanpakutō's excitement, responding to her resolve. Yaezakura never spoke to her, but they could understand each other's feelings perfectly. That's what had always made them so close, she couldn't imagine having a closer friend than him. She knew what he was saying.

_I have never seen you like this._

Seree reached out with her arm, and gently guided Yaso's mother to stand behind her back. The hollow's eyes shone maliciously with a red light, and the slow dripping of its blood hitting the concrete felt surprisingly loud to the Shinigami's suddenly sensitive ears.

"Smells... Good..." The hollow grunted. It looked a bit like a monkey, only it was about ten feet tall and had a hideously ugly face. "Shinigami... Want..."

The hollow jumped at her screaming, reaching out with its one remaining arm, and without second thought Seree jumped too. She slashed upwards, hitting the arm of the hollow with the back of her Zanpakutō and freezing it immediately, then with a down slash shattered it in a million pieces. With the leverage she made a spin on the air, and kicked downwards on the hollows head, making it crash painfully on the ground. Gravity did the rest, and she landed on it with Yaezakura pointing down, piercing through the head and shattering the mask.

There was a scream. Seree saw another hollow had come out, and was contorting around Yaso's mother; like the giant snake, that's what it looked like.

_These are just regular hollow._

"Hadō one, Thrust!"

The spell crashed on the hollow's face, sending it tumbling backwards. Seree slashed at the part of the snake body that was encasing Yaso's mother, and putting her arm around the soul's waist, she jumped back with shunpo to a safe distance.

"What... What's that, Seree-chan?"

"Hollow. Evil spirits. Don't worry, I won't let them touch you."

To her surprise, a third hollow emerged from a portal, and then a fourth, and a fifth. Low level ones, barely different from oversized pluses. They all advanced sheepishly towards them.

"Smell... Tasty..."

"Hungry..."

_What's with them? Oh crap, of course!_

Seree took a moment to focus on the soul she was trying to protect. Reiatsu. Higher than a regular human. Of course, it had to be if she could see spirits, Yaso's oddity notwithstanding. And that was the problem. Hollow love the taste of souls with high spiritual power.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing. Don't worry, just stay behind me."

"Okay."

She raised her hand and pointed at the closest hollow.

"Hadō four, Pale Lightning!"

The crashing sound was deafening, and the body of the hollow crumpled away in spirit particles. Seree moved forward with shunpo, ducked under the next hollow's attack, and cut both his legs with a searing swipe of Yaezakura. She felt the heat from her blade increasing, higher than she had ever felt it.

_Yaezakura... Thank you, dear friend._

The hollow was for the time being disabled. Seree turned to the third humanoid one, and saw the snake trying to painfully move behind it towards Yaso's mother.

"Bakudō four, Crawling Rope!"

The spell hit the humanoid hollow on the chest and send it crashing back on the snake, binding both of them together with its yellow energy rope. Immediately she felt another hollow reiatsu hitting her, as yet another one appeared above Yaso's mother, looking like a giant bat with a hideous mouth covered in protruding sharp teeth.

"Hadō four, Pale Lightning!"

The hollow put its membranous wings around its body, and after the spell crashed on it, spread them again like nothing had happened. Just a few more moments and it'd have its meal.

"Bakudō nine, Disintegrating Circle!"

To the hollow's surprise, the spell wasn't aimed at it. It hit the soul it wanted to eat and, after it tied itself around her, Seree pulled hard, catching Yaso's mother in her arms. Holding her safely with her left arm, she made a small jump back as the legless hollow tried to grab them, and landed just in front of its face, burying Yaezakura in it without second thought. The ground behind them started to freeze as the dead hollow dissolved away.

Seree had been muttering something the whole time.

"Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hadō thirty-one, Red Fire Cannon!"

The bat hollow screamed in pain, as the explosion burned through its wings it had used to protect itself. Breathing heavily, Seree reached back and took Yaezakura in her hand.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Seree panted. "Too many spells too quick."

"Behind!"

Seree didn't wait to see what it was, she used shunpo and landed on the opposite side of the roof. As she landed, she felt something under her feet, and turned just in time to see an enormous mouth come out of nowhere and reach for them. It was big enough to eat them both up without even chewing.

_Crap! I was careless!_

Seree tried to jump back, but the ground gave under her feet. It had been part of the hollow, which had just been waiting patiently for the chance to strike. It looked like one of those ugly abyssal fishes that lay at the bottom of the sea, waiting for a chance to pounce at the prey.

_No way I'm letting you get her._

Seree started to pull Yaso's mother away from her, hoping she could land outside the mouth that was about to engulf them both. It was just a tiny chance, she'd be on her own, but it may be enough. After that, she was already thinking of the next two steps. Point blank Red Fire Cannon with all she had. Landing and getting her charge with shunpo before she got hurt. It was going to be painful, but she was ready for anything. Her racing thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

"Hadō thirty-two, Yellow Fire Flash!"

Seree gasped.

_That voice!_


	33. Chapter 33

Seree's relief was immense when a yellow blast of energy sliced the hollow in half. As it dissolved away in spirit particles, she landed and with a quick shunpo stopped Yaso's mother from falling.

"Hisagi-san!"

Hisagi appeared in a blur of shunpo in front of Seree, and gave her a quick glance over his shoulder.

"What's going on here?"

"They're after her!"

"I can see that. But why are there so many?"

"I don't know..."

Two more portals opened and two more hollow appeared, and then another two, and then two more. All low level hollow, but the numbers were increasing.

"L-Lieutenant..."

"Don't worry. I'll handle this."

Seree placed herself protectively between the battle to ensue and Yaso's mother. Hisagi looked back at the two girls, then tightened his grip over his Zanpakutō.

_Tsk, I don't like doing this but I should finish it quick._

"Reap, Kazeshini."

The sudden hit of reiatsu made Seree's legs wobbly for a moment, and the poor soul of Yaso's mother held onto her back with all her strength.

Hisagi rushed forward, sending Kazeshini to his left on a wide arc. He slashed at a hollow, cutting the arm it had raised protectively together with the mask it was trying to protect, while the chain of his Zanpakutō dragged several of the hollows together. With a mighty pull, he dragged the blade back, and sliced through all five hollows in one strike.

"Wow."

"I know, he's amazing isn't he?" Seree smiled.

Yaso's mother was still holding on to Seree's back with both hands, peeking from over her shoulder at the battle. Letting the blade he had just pulled fly away past his back, Hisagi threw the other end of Kazeshini in the opposite direction, and as the chain connecting both blades reached its limit, he grabbed it with both hands and made half a spin with his body. With a perfect control over his reiatsu, he guided Kazeshini's blades on a tightening spiral, destroying everything they found in their path.

More portals opened. Hisagi looked around with his usual calm demeanour. He studied the reiatsu of all new opponents as they appeared. Still weak, low level hollows. Except...

She suddenly turned to Seree with almost panic in his eyes. Their gazes met, and even before Hisagi could shout at her, she quickly turned and, grabbing her charge, jumped back to the opposite side of the roof.

_Good girl._

The hollow that had appeared was completely different from the rest. Hisagi noticed a stronger reiatsu, but it was clearly being suppressed. A worrying fact all by itself. The hollow was hard to distinguish in the dim light. Vaguely humanoid, no taller than an average man.

Hisagi jumped down to the middle of the roof with a single shunpo, placing himself between the strong hollow and the two women. He was considering his options, but before even making the first move, there was a massive surge of reiatsu that sent all the weak hollows into a near panic.

"Kyaaaa!"

Yaso's mother cried out, putting her hands to her head and falling to her knees, and Seree turned to hug her protectively.

"That reiatsu..."

"Yeah, I guess that's it then." Hisagi said, smirking.

The stronger hollow would have obviously agreed; suddenly it pointed forward with one of its arms, creating a red sphere of energy that fired towards Hisagi at full speed. The impact made a deafening explosion, although barely any damage. The barrier Hisagi had erected crumbled away as the smoke cleared. The hollow was gone.

The weak hollows started to get covered in ice, and a few of them fell to their deaths, shattering upon impact on the ground. In the blink of an eye, the remaining ones were mortally wounded, and their attacker landed on the roof as their bodies dissolved away.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" Seree called, both surprised and happy to see him.

Tōshirō sealed his reiatsu away, and both Seree and Yaso's mother sighed in relief.

"Oi, what's going on here."

Hisagi pointed back at Seree and the soul with his thumb.

"Hollows being attracted to that soul."

"Hm? I see."

Tōshirō looked around him, as if he were looking for something. Seree was about to ask something, but was signalled to be quiet by Hisagi. Finally he young Captain simply shook his head.

"Fast little thing, wasn't it? Is it gone?" Hisagi asked.

"Seems so..." He looked rather bummed.

"Erm... Not that I'm not grateful, Captain Hitsugaya, Hisagi-san, but... What are you doing here?"

"We're here to escort you back to Soul Society."

"Eh? What? What have I done?"

"Tsk. You haven't done anything." Tōshirō replied, annoyed.

"After reading your report, the Captain-Commander gave the order to bring you back. If you're being targeted you should be brought for your own safety, and for the information you have."

"Information?"

"The face of the attacker." The small Captain clarified. "You're the only one who's actually seen it clearly. At this point Kuchiki and the others can handle things here, we need you back in Soul Society to find this guy's identity. If he was a Shinigami, he should be in the records."

"But... I already told Hisagi-san..."

"It's not easy to find someone with just a description." Hisagi replied. "And the original reason for bringing you here is pretty much moot by now."

"But..."

"Enough buts already!" Tōshirō interrupted, visibly annoyed.

"C-Captain! I'm sorry, I..." Seree looked at the ground. "Can we wait a bit?"

"Why?"

"There's... Someone I need to speak with..."

Tōshirō raised an eyebrow as he looked at her, and right before he spoke, Hisagi interrupted.

"Captain, we need to talk with Urahara-san too, right?"

"Yes, so?"

"Well, if you could do that in the meantime, I can wait here with Seree-chan."

He fixed his turquoise eyes on Hisagi, who didn't even blink, and then on Seree, who was looking at him with big puppy eyes, as if she was about to cry. Tōshirō sighed unhappily.

"What a pain. Okay, try not to get in trouble, I'll be back later. And we are leaving when I get back, okay?"

"Yes! Thank you, Captain!" Seree replied happily, with a deep bow.

"Man, what a drag..."

He was still muttering when he disappeared with shunpo. Seree turned, looked at Yaso's mother, who had been witnessing the exchange without as much as a blink, and smiled.

"I'm sorry about that. It's safe now."

"What a funny kid." She replied, making Seree giggle.

"Yes, Captain Hitsugaya is really something. Just don't let him catch you calling him a kid." She unsheathed her Zanpakutō and, touching Yaso's mother on the forehead gently, she smiled at her. "Farewell."

"So, what's all this about?" Hisagi asked, jolting Seree, who had nearly forgotten he was there.

"Ah! Erm..." _Crap, I haven't reported back about Yaso, how do I explain this? _"I kinda need to apologize to someone."

"Hm?" Hisagi gave Seree a more penetrating look.

"Ah-hehehe. Let's see..." Seree fidgeted nervously, trying to come up with something. Finally, she sighed. "I just can't lie to you, Lieutenant. That soul..." She pointed back with her thumb to the space where Yaso's mother had been. "That woman just died here, and I kinda barged in at the wrong time, I need to apologize to her son."

"Uh okay..." Hisahi thought for a few seconds. "So her son can see spirits." Seree nodded. "You barged in when she was dying, and you want to apologize?"

"Pretty much."

"Seree-chan, it is our job to guide souls to Soul Society. Why would you need to apologize for that?"

"No, not for that. But... Well..."

Seree looked rather confused as she tried to explain, but didn't manage to put her feelings into a coherent sentence. Hisagi's look softened slightly.

_This'll take a while._

"Okay, calm down. Since we have time, why don't you explain to me from the beginning?"

Seree hesitated, but Hisagi knew exactly what was going on through her mind.

"Don't worry." He smiled softly. "It's not like I include everything on my mission reports either."

"Lieutenant..." Seree gasped. "Was it really so obvious?"

"Come on."

They spent most of the night sitting at the edge of the roof, legs dangling down and talking. At first Seree just described the events, and how they had played out with Yaso. How she had rescued him first, and how they had found out that neither kidō nor reiatsu seemed to affect him. How Urahada had taken an interest on him and had sent Seree to keep an eye on him, and later how they were training under the Urahara shop. Then came the second fight with Katsutoshi, something Hisagi took a keen interest on. Finally she explained how Renji and him had fought and how he had simply blown up.

"I guess I now know why he was so stressed out..." Seree finished, with a downcast voice.

"That's why you want to apologize."

"Yes."

"That aside, Seree-chan, you should have at the very least mentioned there was another witness."

"I know, but we're not supposed to fraternize with humans, so I thought, well I don't know what I was thinking really."

Hisagi looked at Seree, and when she turned to him, she suddenly started blushing embarrassed. One look and she knew Hisagi had a pretty good idea of what she was thinking.

"Nonetheless, we should keep an eye on him. For his safety." He added, when Seree gave him a weird look. "We can just tell Kuchiki, she can do it without word getting back to Soul Society."

"Okay." Seree was silent for a few seconds, then resumed with a more upbeat voice. "Thank you Hisagi-san."

"Feel better?"

"A little." She smiled.

"It will work for the best really." Hisagi looked down at his arm, there was no trace of it having been severed, not even a tiny scar. "Having Urahara figure out the nature of his ability will be useful for us too, the fact that he was unaffected by Katsutoshi's attack means there's a limit to-"

"Oh that's right!" Seree suddenly exclaimed. "I'm so rude, how is your arm feeling? Shouldn't you be resting?"

"No, it's fine, Isane let me out this morning, I'm fit for duty."

"Have you figured out what the attack was?"

"Captain Kurotsuchi claims it was the ryoka's Zanpakutō, so it was very much like kidō. Very unusual though, dimensional manipulation isn't something you see every day."

"I see."

"That's why we need you back at headquarters." Hisagi explained. "There is nobody in the registry with a Zanpakutō like that, or anyone matching your description with the name _Katsutoshi_."

"So..."

"So." Hisagi smiled. "You'll have to go through a few thousands pictures of Shinigami, for starters."

Seree's face took a look of horror, but then she sighed and resigned herself.

"Guess there's no other way..."

It was already daylight, and another sleepless night for Seree. She had stubbornly remained awake despite the fact that she looked like she'd drop not just asleep, but probably unconscious at any moment. By the time Tōshirō returned, it was business as usual at the hospital.

"We're leaving."

"Captain! Can we just wait a bit longer?"

"You still haven't finished here? What have you been doing?"

"Just a bit longer please, Itou-san can't be long now." She pleaded, still looking at the people coming and going down at the hospital.

"_Itou-san_?"

"Eep." She put both hands on her mouth when she realized what she had said. Luckily for her, the interruption came with perfect timing, at that moment Yaso showed up, leaving the hospital and walking away at a slow pace.

Seree felt her pulse suddenly speed up. Ba-dump, ba-dump, she was suddenly rather afraid when she had come to face what she wanted to do.

"He's leaving." Hisagi said, spurring her to action. Without second thought, she jumped down and used shunpo to rush to Yaso's side.

"Itou-san!"

Yaso suddenly stopped walking and turned around. The look of surprise on his face was almost comical, or would have been under other circumstances. Under that, his face showed signs of a very rough night.

They looked at each other without saying a word for several seconds. Seree felt her own throat tightening, and her eyes moistening up.

"Seree?" Yaso finally said.

"I'm terribly sorry!" Seree suddenly cried out, kneeling down to the ground and bowing deeply until her face was just an inch from the ground.

"What... What are you doing?"

"I'm so sorry! I had no right to, but I... I have no excuse, I'm so sorry Itou-san!"

Yaso's surprise was still obvious on his face. He looked around, and noticed the people passing along were giving him strange looks. He looked down at Seree again, who hadn't moved one inch, then around him. Without another word, he put his hands on his face, muttered a curse, and then turned and ran away.

Even though she hadn't moved, Seree heard Yaso's curse and his steps as he ran. After the initial shock, she couldn't stop the tears that came uninvited, a slow tickle that drummed noiselessly as they fell from the tip of her nose. She wasn't sure whether she was mad at Yaso for having run away like that, or at herself for having failed so.

_Dammit all, why did you run away Itou-san!_

"Let's go."

The voice had come right from behind her. She stood up, wiped the tears from her face, and turned around without looking up.

"Yes Captain."


	34. Chapter 34

Katsutoshi wiped the sweat from his brow, breathing heavily. He looked around at the remains of what once had been a proud fortress of unimaginable size, now laying in ruins. _It ain't like my training has made it any better_, he thought with a smirk. He looked down at his Zanpakutō, going over all the details with his eyes. The long red blade, a hand longer than regular Zanpakutō, the round tsuba with the intricate thin swirling patterns engraved on it, and the red tsuka. Not many had ever seen that Zanpakutō in its released state. Alive, at least. Even when sealed he could use enough of its abilities.

"Been a long time, huh? Finally managed ta figure out this..."

He was interrupted by two hollows jumping at him from both left and right. His face made a gesture of annoyance, and without any thoughts he made a wide arc with his Zanpakutō. The ground from his feet to one of the hollows disappeared, the edges of the rift collapsing together as he opened a dimensional pocket. It went though the hollow, making a third of it disappear in the dimension. His reiatsu climbed as he concentrated, and an instant later the part of the hollow that had disappeared appeared at his feet. Rather gruesomely, the remains of the hollow fell to the ground and immediately started disappearing as its body lost its ability to keep the spirit particles together.

The second hollow was practically on top of him at that point. He looked at it, and it disappeared completely inside a dimensional pocket. Without even looking up, Katsutoshi made a stab at the air in front of him, and the hollow appeared in that spot at that very moment, crying out in pain and collapsing to the ground rather dead.

"Impressive." A voice called. "Is that new, or have you just kept it in reserve until now?"

"Whatcha talkin' about?" Katsutoshi asked, obviously annoyed.

He turned towards the voice and raised his Zanpakutō, pointing it at the hollow. It was humanoid in shape, no bigger than a man. His mask covered half of his ghostly white human face, a mask that looked like a smiling mask from a Venetian theatre, flat and plain with _half_ a widely smiling mouth. The extremely narrow face was so white it could have been mistaken for a hollow's mask, if it weren't for its obviously fleshy movements when he spoke. He had red eyes and completely white hair, falling flat on his back down to the bottom of his shoulderblades. He wore equally pale white clothes, an almost mockery of a Shinigami's Shihakushō as they were nearly identical in shape to one. Under the sash of his belt, he carried a katana, with completely black saya, tsuba and tsuka.

"I thought you could only make those dimensional tricks in one place, but you can move them around now? Very sneaky."

Katsutoshi made a sudden slash with his Zanpakutō, and the hollow disappeared as a dimensional pocket formed around him.

"Very sneaky indeed." The hollow's voice cam from behind him again.

"Tsk." Katsutoshi ground his teeth together in annoyance. "Has you taken care of the girlie?"

"Funny you should mention that, I'm afraid she has escaped."

"What?"

Katsutoshi turned to the hollow, but he didn't move a muscle. He seemed rather amused by Katsutoshi's anger.

"She had too much of an escort, even for me."

"Damn you Daruma!"

"Hey now, it was your problem in the first place. I only said I would look into it. And look into it I did. Besides, none of this would have been necessary if you hadn't revealed yourself in the Real World in the first place."

"That." Katsutoshi's eyes narrowed as he fruitlessly tried to kill Daruma with his gaze. "I thought they'd noticed me'n the real world, that's what ta girlie was doin' there. I didn't know t'was a crapshot!"

"Of course." The hollow smirked. "Waiting for so long, and then you screw up by panicking in the last minute. First you leave witnesses, then you make a mess in Soul Society to get to the Archives. And finally you fail a second time when trying to kill-"

"Shut up!"

Without letting Daruma finish, he lunged forward with a powerful shunpo, but his attack met only empty air.

"Funny how things work, isn't it?" His calm voice came from a distance, slowly moving closer. "Here we are, two rejects working together for the benefit of the one who rejected them."

"Don't give a shit 'bout him." Katsutoshi replied.

"Of course."

Katsutoshi looked at his Zanpakutō, and a shiver ran up his spine.

_Screw that, once I've got this down I'll kick their asses._

"Just be ready when I'm done." Katsutoshi said. There was no answer, but he knew Daruma had heard him.

_Reject, huh? Fucking Aizen, yeah so what._

"What'd ya want anyway? Here just to piss me off?"

"Hardly." Daruma replied, making a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Just brought you something you may be interested in."

He raised his hand, holding something Katsutoshi couldn't see, hidden as it was under a white cloth. Whatever it was, it was the size of his head, at least.

"He hell's that?"

With only the smallest of theatrics, Daruma unveiled a small hollow. It was in the shape of a spider, its body was about as big as Katsutoshi's head, and had all its legs retracted into a spiny ball. Several eyes peered at him maliciously from under the mask.

"I found you a perfect match."

"You hafta be kiddin' me. That thing?"

For a few seconds nobody said anything. Then there was a sudden surge of reiatsu, and the spider jumped from Daruma's hand at such speed it all but disappeared into thin air. Katsutoshi dodged and whacked it with his Zanpakutō as it passed.

"Freaking..."

He stopped talking when he tried to raise his Zanpakutō and noticed he couldn't. There was a thick thread of spiderweb over it, clinging tenaciously onto the blade. Katsutoshi concentrated, and the air around the sword appeared to wobble in and out of existence, but the thread stayed in place.

"See what I mean?"

"Sticky." His reiatsu suddenly jumped up massively, making the spider tremble under the enormous pressure, and he pulled the Zanpakutō away from the thread. "Still ain't seeing the point."

"That is the fundamental difference between us, my dear Shinigami. You only see what is in front of you. Me? I see the possibilities instead."

"Possibilities."

"Why yes. Think about what you could do with this."

"I don't..."

"_If... _You were to combine it with your own abilities, that is."

Katsutoshi stopped talking and just looked at the spider. It was still looking at him with obvious malice, but there was some clear notes of fear in its demeanour.

"Ya better not fuck this up." He finally said, sealing his Zanpakutō and sheathing it away.

"Have I ever?"

Katsutoshi was removing his keikogi, revealing his somewhat lean but well sculpted torso. A hideously large scar covered most of his back, it looked as if something had been torn out of it.

"Ever? Shit, not even a week since the failure you sent to the real world after the girlie."

"And whose fault was that? You made me do that in haste, instead or simply waiting for your Zanpakutō's powers to return."

"Shut up." He sat down on a fallen column and looked at his hand. "It's almost back, I can feel it. Fifty damn years sealed away, and they're almost back."

"All the more reason to wait." Daruma replied, approaching Katsutoshi from behind while holding the spider in his hands. "After such a long wait, it would be embarrassing to fail when the end goal is in sight. You have already had enough fun with them while testing the new hollows, haven't you?"

"Whatever."

Daruma placed the spider on Katsutoshi's back, and slowly his reiatsu started to climb. Katsutoshi grunted in pain, but stayed calm.

"And this time, please, try not to rip it off your back."

For the next several hours, the silence in the ruins of Las Noches was punctuated by the blood-curling screams of pain from Katsutoshi. When they stopped, Daruma threw a blanket over the panting and sweat covered Shinigami.

"It will be several days before you can freely move about as before. Do try to be patient and not get yourself killed."

Katsutoshi stood up and started walking away slowly, with an uneasy and wobbly step. And even though he looked ready to fall down any second, he was smiling.

_Aizen, the look on yer face's gonna be fucking priceless._


	35. Chapter 35

Seree laid back on the tatami and stretched her limbs. She had been sitting down on the floor in front of her desk going through the pile of Shinigami registry forms for hours, and she was about ready for a break. The narrow face and sharp features of Katsutoshi were pretty distinctive, or so she thought, but so far no luck. The fact that nobody in the registry with that name matched the description didn't help either.

She sighed. Every time she stopped working she remembered Yaso, and worst of all she was starting to feel angry about the whole ordeal, it was as if he was punishing her, over and over, every time she remembered him just leaving her like that.

"Seree-chan?"

"Yeeeees." She answered, dispirited.

The door to her room opened, and her Lieutenant walked in, followed by her sister.

"Lieutenant, Kiyone-san."

"Eh? Are you okay?" Isane asked.

"Sure." Seree stretched and sat up. "I've just been staring at these papers for too long."

"Kyaaa~! Look at that!" Kiyone suddenly interrupted, pointing at the pile of clothes, baubles, and assorted merchandise Seree had brought from the real world. "How on Earth did you manage to bring that much back with you?"

"Ah, hehe, that was Seventh Seat Yamada... I don't know how he managed, Captain Hitsugaya and Hisagi-san got him to carry all my stuff and his own too out of the apartment before they came to pick me up."

"Really? Wow, next time he goes to the real world I'm giving him a shopping list!"

"Apparently it was a bit of an awkward situation, Chappy was in my gigai and was, well, being Chappy, and Yamada-san was trying to get her to behave when Captain Hitsugaya walked in. She was trying all my new clothes on and all, I hear he looks really cute when he blushes, so I wish I had been there!"

"Let me guess, Matsumoto told you." Isane asked.

"Yep! Hehehe."

"Woooow, this is sooo nice, can I try it on? Please?" Kiyone grabbed a frilled pink and white shirt from the pile of clothes, measuring it against her arm.

"Sure, go ahead."

"Yay! Oooh, look at this, where did you find it?"

Kiyone was firing questions at a rapid pace, obviously not expecting an answer. Seree and Isane smiled benevolently as she started to go through all the items, until Seree remembered that they had actually come to her room for a reason.

"Ah, Lieutenant, did you want something? Not that I mind the company."

"No, no. Rukia-san sent this report back, and there's an item for you. Here."

Seree took the report Isane was handing her, and started reading.

_Seree-chan. I asked Ichigo about the medicine you mentioned. His father claims it's what they call an antipsychotic, a drug used for treatment of several mental conditions, like some sort of depression, but also more serious ones. Medicine in the human world is very different from that of Soul Society, so I have included some human medical information. I hope it will be useful._

There were several pages copied from medical books. Seree flicked through and was quite impressed by Rukia's thoroughness. She kept the copies and returned the report to Isane.

"Thanks Lieutenant."

"Everything okay?"

"Well... I don't know yet, I have to read all this." She looked at the pile of work on her desk and sighed. "After I finish with that, I guess."

"I see, we should let you work then. I have to show the report to Hisagi-san too, it has Rukia's report on all the hollows she has fought to date. She really speaks highly of you Seree-chan!"

"Ah! Erm, ah, well..." Seree stammered, embarrassed.

"Anyway, we should go then. Kiyone! We're leaving!"

"Aaaah, sis, don't be like that, look at this!"

"Yeah, yeah, come on, Seree-chan has work to do."

"That's okay." Seree interrupted. "This is so boring I don't mind the company."

"See? See? I won't bother her one bit, you'll see!"

"Really now... Okay, but you better let her work. I'll be back later."

"See ya sis!"

Isane smiled as she heard Kiyone's squeaks of excitement as she went through Seree's acquisitions from the real word.

_Still, I better come get her before too long, or Seree won't get anything done today._

It was a quiet day, at last, and Isane found out Hisagi had taken the chance and his little free time to practice with his guitar. So the people at the 9th Division barracks claimed, and as nobody could stand his practice, he had taken off to the mountains to do so.

"Really, that's so mean... She shaded her eyes with her right hand as she looked up to the sky; it was a beautiful clear day without a single cloud in sight. "Ah well, maybe it's not a bad day to go out for a walk. Hmm, I wonder... Right!"

She made a quick stop at the 4th Division's kitchen to grab some food and took off with a spring on her step. The mountains, it wasn't a bad place to spend the day. Before she knew it, she had started to catch her sister's energetic demeanour.

_I wonder where Hisagi-san actually went, probably not too far..._

It took less time to find him than she thought it would, the sound of the guitar was easy enough to follow. At first she approached thinking of not interrupting his practice, but it wasn't long before she decided it was best to interrupt as soon as possible. Hisagi was sitting under a tree at the border of a clearing in the mountain forest, strumming away trying to come to grips with the instrument.

"Hisagi-kun!"

"Oh, hello Isane." He replied, surprised. "What are you doing out here?"

"Hehe, well, I was bringing you this report from the 13th division, but then your subordinates told me you were out here practicing, so I decided to come find you."

"Oh, I see. I'll take a-"

"Nevermind that! I just wanted to interrupt... I mean, I don't want to interrupt your free time with work!" _Whoops! _"What about making a picnic out of it?"

Hisagi's eyes lit up when Isane showed him the packed bento boxes. His smile, however, froze somehow when he opened the box and saw half the rice was covered in sea urchin roe.

"I hope it's okay, I didn't have too much time to prepare it, so... Is something the matter?"

"Ah, nonono, it's great, thanks!" Hisagi lied, and was completely unable to conceal it.

Nevertheless, he went right at it and ate it all up without leaving anything in his bento box. He was finished before Isane was even halfway through hers.

_Free food is free food!_

"So you have to come out here to practice? That must be rough..." _I can understand why though!_

"Yeah, it's a very hard instrument to master. Sado Yasutora gave me a few lessons, and I have gotten better, but..." He took the guitar and struck a melodious and well tuned chord, to Isane's surprise. "It's still too soon."

"That one sounded good!" Isane replied, munching on her food.

"It gets a bit harder though."

Hisagi followed by a series of chords that got progressively worse as he lost the pace and started fumbling with his fingers. When he looked up, Isane was looking at him with a frozen smile that couldn't disguise how horrible she thought it all was.

He couldn't help looking at her bento box, with some food still left in it. Then they looked at each other, and a heartbeat later they started laughing at the same time.

"Okay, what was it?" Isane asked, still giddy.

"The sea urchin." Hisagi replied, with a small smile.

"Really? But it's such a luxurious ingredient!"

"That's probably why, I never had stuff like that." Hisagi strummed his guitar again, with a single well executed chord.

It was not long before sunset when Isane returned to retrieve her sister. She was expecting the hyperactive little troublemaker to be bothering Seree, but when she knocked at the door and was invited in, she found an extremely unexpected gloomy atmosphere. Seree was reading the papers Rukia had sent her, and Kiyone had that look Isane knew well.

_Help!_

"What happened?"

"Sis! You're back!" Kiyone looked at Seree and then back at Isane.

_Talk with her, will you?_

"Seree-chan? What happened?"

"She was reading this thing about that medicine and she was telling me about this guy... erm..." Kiyone stopped talking and looked at Seree, hoping she would continue.

"Lieutenant, I haven't put this in the reports, but... Well, I met this human in the real world."

Seree's explanation about Yaso used up the rest of the evening, until it was dark outside. Isane listened patiently, she was used to deal with all those issues inside the squad. It wasn't in the books, but it very much came with the job of squad Lieutenant.

"I have to go talk to him. I should have realized when I talked with his mother, but I was so caught up with wanting to apologize that I didn't think."

"Seree-chan, aren't you jumping to conclusions?"

"But Lieutenant! This says-" Seree waved the papers Rukia had sent her, but was interrupted by Isane.

"That's what I mean, you're just jumping to the worst case scenario. Just calm down, we can ask Rukia-san to find out more, okay?"

"But he's wrong! I don't know who put the idea in his head that he's crazy, but he's wrong!"

"Who do you think?"

"What? I don't! I-"

Seree suddenly shut up as she remembered her short talk with Yaso's mother. She sighed dejectedly.

"Seree-chan, let's just talk with the Captain tomorrow, okay?"

"Tomorrow?"

Isane pointed at the window.

"It's quite late now, we better have this conversation after a good night's rest."

"Okay..."

Kiyone was quite impressed by Isane's ability to manage the situation, she had had no idea what to tell the girl when she started talking about all that. Her first instinct had been to make fun of her liking a human, but even she quickly realized it was probably a bad time.

_That's my big sister!_

Inside, Seree was finishing the paperwork. She had finally found the picture of the man. Takeuchi Maano, definitely the same face, and absolutely no information other than a big "_restricted, Correction Corps classified information_". That solved the mystery of who Katsutoshi was, and he obviously had had trouble with Soul Society before, but didn't tell _her_ much.

She didn't even feel a bit curious, not tonight. She finished the report, stuck it in the envelope with all the Shinigami registry forms, and left towards the Captain's office. It'd be closed, but she could just leave the papers in the dropbox.

"Good evening, Miyanaga-san." A passing Shinigami greeted her.

"Good evening Kin. Oh my, you look tired."

"Yes." The young girl sighed. "I haven't slept too well lately."

"You should go to bed, why are you out here at this hour?"

"Feeding the butterflies." She raised the bucket with the feed for the Hell Butterflies, a duty usually reserved for the lower ranking Shinigami. "It's my turn tonight."

"I see." Seree said, when an idea suddenly flashed through her mind. "Tell you what, I'll do it."

"Ah, Miyanaga-san! I couldn't!"

"Don't worry, it's fine. Here, just take this to the Captain's office dropbox for me and go to bed, I'll do the feeding. I used to do this all the time, you know."

"I..." Kin hesitated, looking at the bundle Seree was offering her.

"It's okay, go ahead. Get some sleep."

"O-Okay then. Thank you very much, Miyanaga-san!"

With a deep bow she took the bundle and walked off, perfectly happy and already dreaming of her warm futon. Seree took the feed bucket and went straight to the butterfly hatchery.

_And I'll just borrow one for a quick trip afterwards..._


	36. Chapter 36

The walk through the Senkaimon had been rather uneventful, something Seree had found quite surprising. She had half expected some sort of alarm to go off and the Onmitsukidō to come out of nowhere and haul her to jail, but nothing of the sorts had happened.

_Thank you, little Hell Butterfly._

The black butterfly fluttered around her head and landed on her multicolored hair, resting its wings after the dimensional trip. Seree poked it gently to make it take off, so that she could jump into her gigai, and then offered a finger for it to land.

"Let's go, Itou-san is waiting! Well, maybe not, but you know what I mean!"

The butterfly merely moved to its favourite position on her head.

_What am I going to tell him? Well, I'll figure something out!_

She rushed through the streets at good pace, realizing then that it was probably quite a late hour. There was nobody on the streets, and even the traffic lights had stopped working, merely blinking orange to warn drivers of the incoming road crossing. She walked up to Yaso's apartment, then walked down again to look from the street. The lights inside the apartment were still on.

_Yes!_

She rushed back up and stopped at the door. Her heart was beating a lot faster than she had anticipated. Even faster than when she was running. Twice she raised her hand to knock on the door, and twice she failed to muster the courage to do so.

_You silly girl, what have you come all the way out here for? Do it!_

"That's the thing, I don't really know what it all means!"

Seree suppressed a gasp and listened carefully. Yaso was having a conversation on the phone, but all she could hear was only his voice.

_Is there someone else in there with him?_

"Why wouldn't it mean something? I..." Silence. "Yes, I know. Well, no!" More silence. "No, only sometimes, the rest of the time they look perfectly normal. But-" More silence. "It's getting worse!"

_What is he talking about?_

There was a much longer silence before Yaso continued.

"What can I say? She was great. She was, like, the opposite of Lina." Another pause. "Yes, I know. I actually thought I had gotten over that, but I dunno, I guess it's been coming back since I started seeing her."

Seree held her breath and tried to listen more carefully. The pumping of her heart was hitting her eardrums so hard she could barely hear.

"I don't know, I guess it was because she kinda let me be when I wanted to be alone. Well, and the crazy hair helped." Yaso laughed.

Seree felt her face heating up as she blushed crimson.

_What... Wait, what are you doing AGAIN?_

She suddenly stood back and, quietly but also as quickly as possible, rushed to the stairs, sitting on the steps and wrapping her arms around her legs. She desperately wanted to listen, but she was there to apologize precisely because she kept putting her nose into his affairs. The latter argument won, and she waited for what seemed like an eternity, with her eyes fixed on the door.

After the wait, she stood up and listened by the door again. She made sure Yaso wasn't still speaking, and with much trepidation she knocked on the door. For some reason her knocks had been extremely vigorous.

"Sheesh. Coming!" Yaso replied.

Seree's heart leaped again when the door started opening. When Yaso looked up and their eyes met, his face suddenly turned to an expression of utter shock. The Hell Butterfly chose that moment to take off from Seree's head, fluttering inside the apartment, but neither of them even noticed. Seree was trying to speak, but her voice had completely died down in her throat. She couldn't even think clearly.

"W-What..." Yaso finally stammered.

"Itou-san!" Seree suddenly found her voice, bowind down deeply, without falling to her knees this time. "I'm so sorry! Please don't send me away! I can't just leave you like that, please!"

"Shit..."

Seree had heard that tone before, and like before Yaso seemed to take a step back. He leaned back on the wall by the door, and closed his eyes, pressing on them slightly with his right hand. He took a deep breath, opened them, and without another word made a gesture for Seree to walk in. She almost tiptoed inside and very softly pushed the door behind her, failing to properly close it. Yaso sat down on the single sofa, and Seree followed him, seating herself at the very end of the three seater, closest to him. She curled up with her legs pressed against her chest, hugging them. Yaso was leaning forward, with both his hands to his forehead.

"Itou-san, I... I don't even know where to start. Your mother..."

Serees voice faltered. Yaso sat back and looked at her, then raised his gaze to the ceiling and smiled slightly; a sad smile, Seree thought.

"My mother. She was the sweetest person in the world." Yaso took a deep breath, and Seree realized it was being unduly hard for him to speak; she didn't move a muscle, afraid to interrupt. "She just... Fell apart when dad died. Like something had switched off inside her, she just wasn't really there anymore."

Yaso looked at Seree, who was still trying her best not to stir.

"My great grandmother had the same. Runs in the family it seems. One day she lost it, I remember visiting her in the hospital when I was little. It only made sense to me when it happened to mom. When dad died, well, I thought that was what did it, but it was just the trigger."

"But, Itou-san! That's not..."

_That's not what's happening to you! _She thought. Her voice had died down when Yaso's look intensified.

"What, are you going to tell me she was really talking with my father's ghost?"

There was a intensely strong pulse when Yaso said that. *Thunk* it went, Seree felt it hit her with acute intensity, the same feeling of pain she had been noticing since she met Yaso.

"No." She answered in a small voice.

Yaso looked at the ceiling again, thinking.

"This all started in the Summer a couple of years ago."

He suddenly stood up and walked to his trophy cabinet, opening the top drawer and taking something from it. He placed it on the coffe table in front of Seree. His kendo tournament trophy.

"You remember that."

It wasn't a question. Seree almost felt like he wasn't really talking to her.

"Yes."

"I won this two years ago." He resumed his tirade, sitting down on his sofa once more. "I entered the tournament almost in secret; our sensei wasn't too big on competition, he was all about feeling of presence and self-improvement."

"That's when you were doing iaidō?"

"Yes. I really wanted to go beyond that, I don't know why really. Maybe I just wanted to push myself. Mom was always encouraging me before and, well, since she wasn't anymore..."

Seree gulped and didn't say anything. Yaso took a while to start again.

"I was genuinely proud of having come out first, after going through pretty much the bottom of the preliminaries. But when I went back to class, boy was sensei pissed. I don't know why really. He said he was going to put me in my place, so he handed me a bokken and told me to fight him."

Seree opened her eyes wide, curious, but still silent. She only spoke when Yaso didn't give any signs of wanting to continue.

"What happened?"

"Well, I won." He looked at Seree and smirked. "At first he pressed me really hard and I almost hit him with two counters, then he stood back and calmed down, and I really didn't think I could touch him. So I tricked him. I feinted twice trying to hit him with a stab, and then on the third I let go with the right, used only my left hand." Yaso made a stabbing movement with his left hand. "An extra ten inches of range, I hit him right on the throat."

Seree gasped.

"He was fine, but I figured I should not show myself in there ever again."

"Wow."

"Well, to be honest I think I was lucky." Yaso's expression turned darker and he looked away from Seree. "But later..."

Seree let the silence linger for a while, then couldn't help pressing again.

"Later?"

"Well, Lina. You know, I had asked her out before and she had said no. Which is fine. But then after that she kinda became more friendly, suggested we go out... Instead she led me to get beaten up by a bunch of guys from class."

_That bitch!_ Seree thought, anger flashing in her eyes.

"They beat you up?"

"Well, I was doing okay defending myself, trying to get out of there. But she clocked me from behind on the head with a bottle, never saw it coming. I wasn't even expecting her to do something like that. And when I went down, the guys just went to town."

"What a bitch." Seree said involuntarily.

"Yes." Yaso smiled ironically. "The smug look she gave when they left me on the ground is the last thing I remember, before waking up in the Kurosaki clinic."

"Kurosaki... You mean Kurosaki Ichigo? Orange hair kid?"

"His father, actually, yeah. That's how I met him."

Yaso laid back on the sofa and closed his eyes, passing his hands over his face. Seree held her breath, there was an intensity around Yaso she couldn't quite describe.

"That's when I started seeing all this weird shit. Just like mom." He laughed softly without mirth.

"But... Itou-san! It's re-"

"Real?" He interrupted. "What part, the monsters nobody can see or the flying people with swords?" He stood up excitedly, walking around. "I see a monster crashing through a building and everyone else sees a truck crashing instead. I don't even know what's real anymore! Me imagining you in the hospital, or imagining everyone else looking at me like I've lost my mind? I don't even know why-"

"Itou-san!"

Seree had stood up and suddenly embraced him from behind. He reacted almost immediately, but this time Seree didn't let go of him, pressing her face against his back and holding with her hands onto his shirt and with all her might in a tight hug.

"I'm right here! You're not seeing things! Don't I feel real?"

"Shit, of course you would! Why-"

Yaso was interrupted by a muffled sob, and felt a small moist spot on his back, where Seree's tears soaked his shirt.

"I don't know..." Her voice trembled. "I don't know what I can say to you to make you believe me."

They stayed like that for a long time, Seree couldn't say how long. When finally Yaso reached and grabbed her hands, she felt an almost electric jolt. He gently made her let go and turned around, looking at her in the eyes. Seree couldn't describe his expression.

_Hopeful? Worried? Scared?_

Whatever it was, she was sure he felt as confused as she was at the time. He put his hands on her shoulders, and she realized then she was trembling. At that point she couldn't form a single coherent thought; she stood on her toes, and when she felt his warm breath on her face she closed her eyes, tilting her head slightly. Her heart threatened to leap out of her chest, and when their lips touched she lost herself in the torrent of emotions, with only one thought in her head.

_It's real. It's real. It's real!_

"Oh, the door's open." Ichigo's voice, but neither Yaso nor Seree noticed.

"Hello? Ito-"

Rukia walked into the apartment, followed by Ichigo, and both of them froze in place when they saw what was happening inside.

"I suppose you're busy." Rukia said in a monotone voice, while both her and Ichigo turned around in a shocked, almost robotic fashion. "Wewillbebacklater..."

"Eh? Ah! Kuchiki-dono!" Seree suddenly exclaimed, blushing so thoroughly it looked like even her hair would turn completely red, as Yaso let her go.

"It's okay, we'll just be on our way..."

_"Great timing..." _Ichigo murmured.

_"They could have closed the door..."_ Rukia whispered back.


	37. Chapter 37

Rukia and Ichigo managed to let themselves be convinced by Seree to go back inside. There was an uncomfortable silence until Yaso broke it with a small smile.

"Tea? I'll put the kettle on."

"Ah. Y-Yes, thank you..." Rukia answered, somewhat shocked. The three of them sat on the large sofa and she turned to Seree when Yaso was out of earshot, talking in a whisper. "Way to go Seree-chan, he actually smiled!"

"Kuchiki-dono! Don't say anything stupid please."

"Huh?"

She was taken aback by the young Shinigami's direct response. Still respectful, but with an unusual edge to it.

_I'll have to ask her later._

"Kuchiki-dono, Kurosaki-kun, why are you here?"

"It's not like we meant to interrupt." Ichigo replied, somewhat embarrassed.

"You're the one who pointed at the open door."

"Shut up Rukia! And who's the one who woke me up in the middle of the night for an emergency?"

"Emergency?" Seree interrupted.

"Yes." Rukia turned to her, and Seree flinched at the penetrating, angry look she was given. "You can't guess?"

"I suppose..."

"I suppose my butt! You stole a Hell Butterfly, came back to Karakura without warning _or_ permission, and all in the middle of the night! What were you expecting?"

Seree fidgeted nervously.

"Your Lieutenant called me almost in a panic! Do you have any idea how much trouble you just got yourself into?"

"But... Kuchiki-dono, I read what you sent me, and I..." She involuntarily gazed at Yaso, who was coming back with the tea.

Rukia caught her gaze, looking back.

"So it's him who's taking that medicine?"

"Kuchiki-dono!" Seree reprimanded her in a slightly too loud whisper.

The three of them looked at him as he put the tea on the coffee table, and then he spoke with a soft, calm voice.

"She's here because of me." There was no accusation in his voice. "My mother died last night."

Rukia and Ichigo looked both shocked by the revelation, and a bit unsure about how to react. Yaso reached for one cup, and all the others did the same, sipping in silence. Rukia took a second look at him.

_No wonder he was so tense. _

"There's no need to say anything." Yaso continued. "I'm not too clear on what's going on, but I don't want you to get into trouble."

"Yes." Rukia replied. "It's a good thing we found you on our first try, you have to go back!"

"I can't leave now!"

Seree was suddenly silenced by a hand landing on her multicolored hair. She looked up and saw Yaso was standing next to her, looking at her and smiling.

_He's smiling? He's smiling!_

"You've done enough today, don't you think? If..." Hesitation, again. "No, I don't want you to get into more trouble."

"Yaso..."

Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other, and hurriedly standing up they smiled uncomfortably. It was Rukia who spoke.

"Well, well, we'll wait for you outside, ah-hahaha."

They practically fled the apartment. Their wait outside was rather silent, Rukia leaning against the building and Ichigo against the lamppost in front of it. The discomfort had left them, and they were just thinking. He was the first one to speak his thoughts out loud.

"So, what's the deal, you told Seree something about the medicine, it's that the one you made me ask my father about?"

"Yeah. Seems like Seree-chan found out Itou-san is taking it."

"Hmmmm." Ichigo hummed in reply, with his usual intense expression on his face.

"What?" Rukia asked, recognizing the disapproval in his eyes.

"Nosy girl."

"I'm not disagreeing with you on that."

Rukia remembered the time when Ichigo had fought the Grand Fisher. She wanted to say _'we_', but the fight had been Ichigo's, and Ichigo's only. That day, she had clumsily put her foot somewhere she had no right to. She looked at Ichigo, and a wordless understanding passed between them.

"So..."

"I'm not going to ask her." Rukia interrupted, looking away towards the window of Yaso's apartment.

"Sheesh, I wasn't going to say that!" Ichigo retorted, annoyed. "I was going to ask what should _we_ do."

"Hopefully nothing, but it depends on what Seree-chan has done."

"I thought you weren't going to ask her."

"I'm not!" She looked back at him. "We just have to figure it out, but as I said, _nothing_ is the best thing to do."

"Right, right. You know..." Ichigo looked at the apartment. "I don't think it's unusual to think you're going crazy if you suddenly start seeing all this weird stuff. Although he seems to have taken it a bit too far."

"_You_ didn't think you were crazy."

"I didn't believe you at first, remember? You freaking bound my arms to my back with kidō when I complained! Besides, I had family history on gho-"

Ichigo stopped talking mid-sentence. They looked at each other and then turned simultaneously towards the apartment window.

"Do you think his mother..."

"Seree will know." Rukia answered his unfinished question, then huffed exasperated. "_I am not asking her!_"

"Asking her what?" Seree said, coming out of the building.

"Are you... Well, _done?_" Rukia asked with some mischievousness in her voice, but failing completely to faze Seree even one bit.

"Yup!"

She was more than smiling, she was practically beaming. For a moment, Ichigo was reminded of Orihime, only with a much smaller cup size and an even more outrageous hairstyle. He noticed the butterfly perched atop her head, looking rather comfortable. He had to stifle a laugh.

"Hm?" Seree looked up. "Oh, that! It seems to be its favourite spot, hehehe."

"You look awfully upbeat for someone who's about to get into all kinds of trouble."

"Yup! Completely worth it."

"You'll probably be spending some time in a cell, not to talk extra punishment duties."

"Completely worth it!" She replied, pumping a fist into the air. "Let's go!"

Rukia sighed and shook her head.

_What a girl._

"At least I hope you have learned a lesson. It may have ended well this time, and I understand that your heart was in the right place, but that's no way to do things Seree-chan." Rukia reprimanded her.

"I know." She sighed, but immediately regained her energy. "I know! But sometimes people push you away because they want to be left alone, and sometimes they want you to go after them."

Rukia looked at her for a few moments, pondering where she had gotten that from.

"So which one was it?" Ichigo asked.

"To be honest, I'm not too sure. But! I think that a few days locked away so that I don't do anything silly is probably a good idea."

"So you do have self-awareness, just no self-control." Rukia poked her, which got a giggle and a playfully poked out tongue from Seree. She unsheathed Sode no Shirayuki and, taking a stab at the air, opened the Senkaimon. "Off you go then, I'm assuming I don't have to escort you back."

"No, no, it's fine. Thank you Kuchiki-dono! Bye Kurosaki-kun!"

She left with more than a spring in her step, she was literally hopping. For a moment Rukia considered whether she had just put Chappy in her gigai to throw them off. No, that would be too silly, even for her.

"She really owes me for tonight." Ichigo said.

"What are you talking about?"

"There's no way my idiot father will let me sleep in until late tomorrow." He replied, obviously annoyed.

On the other side, Seree was greeted by a very annoyed Isane and six Shinigami guards carrying spears. She didn't lose her smile at all.

"Seree!"

"Eh-hehe, hello Lieutenant."

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused?"

"Not really... I kinda half expected I'd have to run away or something when I went across the Senkaimon, but everybody just ignored me and I waltzed trough."

"Because you had a Hell Butterfly! And then they found me, and asked me why were you going through this gate without warning at this ungodly hour! You're lucky it was me and not the Captain, and that Rukia-san found you so quickly!"

"Yes, thank you Lieutenant!"

"And why are you still smiling?"

"Because it was worth it!" Seree replied, full of energy.

The response she had expected didn't happen, and at that moment Isane looked more surprised by her answer than annoyed. She then steeled her resolve, but Seree smiled inwardly. Isane didn't stay mad for long, she just didn't have it in her. Sometimes it felt like she was going through the motions merely because it was expected of her rank. Whenever someone got really chewed up by one of the captains, she always looked more worried about the Shinigami on the receiving end of the reprieve.

"We'll talk about this in the morning. Just take her away."

"Sure! I'm sorry for the troubles, Lieutenant."

"You don't look very sorry."

"I am! It's just that I'd do it again!"

Isane regarded her with some curiosity, then simply waved at the guards and they took her away. It was just too damn late and in the middle of the night to have that kind of conversation.

Once Seree was in her cell, she sat on the cot, took one of the butterfly feed ampoules from her pocket and, cracking it open, offered it to the Hell Butterfly perched atop her head. It sipped slowly, as if it were savouring every drop.

"If there's anything else you want, just let me know!"

The butterfly moved its wings slowly a couple of times, but that was all the answer she got. It looked rather content at the time. After it had fed, Seree fell back on the cot, and the startled butterfly fluttered away for a few seconds before settling down again on her forehead.

"I'm just glad Yaso looks so much happier now..." She blushed slightly, thinking of the first kiss, and of the last one, and how she now was calling him...

_Yaso._

"Tee-hee." She couldn't help giggling. "Still, Kuchiki-dono is right. At least I could fix it this time. You know..." She looked up and managed to see the tip of the butterfly's wings. "I'm not sure he really believes me. Rather, I'm still not sure he believes his eyes I guess. But it's a first step. I kinda hope they'll lock me up in here for a few days so that I don't do anything stupid now."

She stayed awake almost until morning again, only aware of it when the sun broke through the window of her small cell. Her head was filled with a thousand and one possibilities for the future, but it wasn't until then that she focused on the most immediate one. Morning was almost here. And that meant Captain Unohana. She tried a dozen times to imagine what it would be like. She had only heard about her being scary when mad, she had never experienced it, the only exception was when she had almost contradicted her before being sent to the real world (and how long ago that felt!). The best she could come up with was imagining her face and demeanour at being disappointed in Seree. That felt bad already.

Reality was a thousand times worse.


	38. Chapter 38

By the time Seree left Captain Unohana's office, closely followed by Isane, she was about ready to dig up a hole and hide inside. She was ghostly pale, and her eyes still hadn't managed to lose the hunted look of fear. Her heart leaped to her throat when Isane put her hand on her shoulder.

"Deep breaths, Seree-chan."

"I... Uh..."

She tried to breathe deeply, in and out, hoping to find her voice. It wasn't just that she had never been chewed-up like that before in her whole life, even as far as her academy days, she hadn't even imagined it was possible to get chewed-up like that. She had explained everything to the Captain, about Yaso and all she hadn't put in her reports. And why she had left Soul Society in the dead of the night like that. Sympathy or understanding were irrelevant to the fact that she had broken so many protocols of the Gotei 13, at a time when she had been brought back specifically to be kept in protected custody because she was being targeted, and when she had been told very clearly what she should and shouldn't do.

It was even worse than when she had walked into Yaso's mother's room. She thought that was a big screw-up already, but she was feeling a thousand times worse now. And the fact that she felt worse made her feel worse about feeling worse than that time. Which made her head hurt.

"You still would do it again?" Isane asked, not completely uncharitably. She was still unhappy about the rather eventful night, but Captain Unohana had already done a thorough job.

"Yes."

Realizing what she had just said, Seree snapped her head up and looked around, expecting Captain Unohana to show up and give her some choice words about her stubbornness. Isane looked down at her, surprised, then smiled and shook her head.

_What a girl._

Colour had returned to her face when they reached the cells, although she still looked rather downcast, hair falling over her face and shoulders slumping down. Isane locked the cell and smiled, trying to cheer her up a bit.

"Only two weeks. I'll have a list of extra duties for you after that, so don't worry too much, okay?"

"This won't look good on my resume, will it?" Seree asked, dropping on the cot with a soft _plop_.

"I don't know about that. I can remember some of the officers getting into a lot more trouble."

"With Captain Unohana?"

"Oh yes." Isane grinned. "A _lot_ worse."

Two whole weeks. Seree felt better after some time about her little adventure, but it was two weeks without seeing Yaso. She shook her head. She had decided it was a good thing to stay away for a while, hadn't she? Yes, it was definitely a good thing. Whoever Yaso was talking with when she _snooped, _he said he liked her because she let him be on his own when he needed it. It was a good thing.

The Hell Butterfly came fluttering through the window and landed on the finger Seree offered it.

"Come here to cheer me up?" Seree asked, cracking open another feed ampoule. She had taken a fistful of them when she fed them in case she spent some time in the real world with that stolen one, and now she was glad she had. "Thanks!"

_Two weeks without Yaso._

It was much later in the afternoon that Yaso found himself walking aimlessly around town, dressed in a pitch black suit with white shirt and black tie, and carrying his katana on his back inside its bag. The day had been an emotional rollercoaster. His mother's funeral.

It had been a small and dignified ceremony, with some old family friends whom he had barely seen since his father died. When she was still herself. The condolences were heartfelt, and it all had stirred many memories of the past. All the wonderful anecdotes of why she was so well loved. She was not just kind and caring, she also had a childish mischievous streak that had fuelled so many good times. His father had always reacted as expected, outraged, scolding, yet so harmlessly and intentionally over the top that he sometimes thought he did it on purpose to encourage her. He did, in fact, confessed that to Yaso, but asked not to tell his mother.

As if she didn't know.

Lots of laughs.

Happy childhood.

Yaso sighed. Maybe his parents had met again in the afterlife. His thoughts turned like a compass arrow to Seree and the night before. He asked himself if there really was an afterlife.

_Shit._

"Aaah, you came to train dressed like that?"

"Huh?"

Yaso raised his eyes and looked around, confused. It took him several seconds to recognize where his feet had taken him without thinking; the Urahara shop, and Jinta was looking at him like he had grown a second head.

"Jeez man, who di-"

A smack to the back of the head silenced him as Yoruichi walked past him.

"So you came back." She spoke with a calm voice.

"I didn't even notice where I was walking."

"Really?" Yoruichi raised her eyebrows, surprised. "So you're carrying that..." She pointed at the katana.

"Seree made me promise her I'd carry it." He sighed, prompting a smile from Yoruichi.

"Want to come in?"

She waved for him to follow, and led him to the room at the back he knew well. They waited for the tea, and Yoruichi let him get comfortable before saying anything, or rather before merely prompting him with a look. Yaso was still amazed at how expressive Yoruichi could be without saying a word.

"My mother." He answered softly.

"My condolences." Yoruichi replied.

"Thanks. It wasn't unexpected but even then..."

"Of course. It's never easy, expected or not." Yoruichi sipped and looked at Yaso, then gestured at the sword bag he had left propped against the wall. "Want to have a go at it? A bit of distraction may help."

"You think?" He didn't look up.

"Trust sensei." She smirked.

"Well, it's not like I'm dressed for the occasion."

"Heh, don't worry, I can fix that."

A few minutes later, Yaso emerged with the clothes Yoruichi had gotten him. A blue undershirt and a white kosode with blue stripes along the arms and two symbols he didn't recognize on the chest, blue hakama, and a pair of white socks and old style waraji for the feet. And of course, his katana, tucked under a white sash. The whole think looked like the uniforms the Shinigami were running around in. Yaso sighed at his own ridiculous thoughts.

_What the hell am I doing again?_

"Ooh, Itou-san!" Urahara greeted him when he emerged. "You decided to rejoin the madness?"

Yaso gave him a very long look, with a more than uncomfortable silence. Finally, he spoke in a flat voice.

"That's not even one bit funny."

"It wasn't supposed to be, although I have to say you offered little way of knowing it'd be inappropriate, before now that is." He finished with a grin. It wasn't mocking or amused, it was a knowing grin. "You still can't believe your eyes?"

"What did Seree tell you?" His voice had suddenly taken an icy edge, but Urahara dispelled it immediately.

"I haven't spoken to her since you two left together. Your reactions are far more eloquent." Urahara's face looked more serious, and without losing the grin, it dropped all the goofyness it had carried. "You are no ordinary human."

"I know." Yaso grated.

"I don't mean it like that." Urahara pointed at Yaso's chest with his cane. "There is some power inside you, of that there is no doubt. You either had it all your life, or you acquired it later. But it's you who has to discover what it is. And for that you first have to accept it."

"Really. So if you know so much, why don't you tell me what it is?"

"That's what we're doing!" He replied cheerfully, raising his closed fan to his face. "You feel something when you take that in your hands, don't you?" He pointed at the katana with his fan. "How things make sense, remember? If you won't trust me, _us_, then at least you can trust that, and see where it takes you."

Yaso looked at the sword tucked under the sash. That was true. Whether everything else was real or not, with a weapon in his hands he never felt conflicted, or hesitant. His very core of being felt that everything was in its proper place when he did it.

"When did you start training iaidō?" Urahara asked offhandedly, like he was talking about the weather.

"It didn't start until two years ago." Yaso replied, leaping three questions ahead and prompting a smile from Urahara's lips. "Even if my brain went down the crapper." He tapped the handle of the katana affectionately. "Even then, whenever I took a bokken, or a sabre, everything felt fine."

"And before that?"

"It was just fun, but nothing so special." He looked up at Urahara and shrugged. "Just something I enjoyed doing."

"So, What changed?"

"A scientist, huh?" Yaso asked, with half a smile. "Always wondering what's different. Well fine, I left my old dojo when I beat my master in a match and the rest of the students beat the crap out of me for it. I still practised alone for a while, but finally stopped and went to the fencing club by the Kurosaki clinic."

"Two years ago." Urahara repeated, filing the fact away in his head. "You went often to the Kurosaki clinic?"

"Huh?" Yaso looked surprised by the seemingly unrelated question. "Well, he's the one who patched me up when I was beaten up, so I did spend some time in there. I've gone a few more times after that, why?"

"No, no reason, just curious."

"No reason my ass! There's always method to your madness."

It had come out somewhat forced, and even then Yaso's grin looked rather uncomfortable on his face. But it was clear he was trying, struggling but trying. Yoruichi looked more surprised than Urahara, but both of them grinned back at him.

"Ichigo is a magnet for trouble." Yoruichi answered.

"Worse than Seree?"

"You have no idea..."

Yaso looked at Yoruichi's smile, then at the grin on Urahara's face as he nodded, and couldn't stop himself from laughing.

"You two..."

"Hold that thought and let's go downstairs, Yaso." Yoruichi interrupted. "I don't expect you to come around overnight, but let's see how you feel with a sword in your hand."

It was by far the most fun Yaso had had in a long time. Every time he had come into that humongous room, he had always done so with the distinct feeling that he was just indulging into a fantasy. He wasn't sure how much of it was real, but he knew at least some of it had to _not_ be. He was always thinking of his mother's illness, and the few flashes of his great grandmother in the hospital. But not that night. He had all the freshly revived memories of the fun times with both his parents. He had started doing iaidō because of a stupid TV cartoon, but his mother had encouraged him all the way through, she merely loved how happy he looked when doing it.

Yoruichi, devilishly fast as she was, was pulling her punches a lot, but her speed not so much, and was pushing Yaso to the limit, and then some. He didn't care. It couldn't be real. Or maybe it was. He didn't care anymore. Maybe that's what had happened to his mother. Maybe the sweet memory of his father was just better than the grim reality of his death. He didn't feel resentment towards her though. He understood. She had given him a wonderful childhood and so many memories, why was he stuck with only the sad ones?

To hell with it! He was tired, tired of second guessing, tired of the constant nagging doubts, of catching himself every second. If it was real, it was. If it wasn't, then heck, much better than the reality where those you consider your friends may ambush you in a dark alley and beat you up to within an inch of your life.

And in this reality, he could fight back.

He was, however, so distracted by those thoughts that Yoruichi didn't hesitate to make him take a mouthful of dirt with a well placed sweep as a lesson.

"Feeling better?" She asked with a grin, looking at Yaso contort in pain on the floor and laugh softly at the same time.

"Sensei, you have no idea."


	39. Chapter 39

Yaso raised his trembling sword while struggling to keep his legs from bucking under him, and Yoruichi suddenly appeared in a blur of shunpo to hit him hard on the stomach, and then on the chest. He couldn't quite tell if it had been one or two hits, he assumed two based on the pain he was feeling.

He took a few seconds on the floor with his eyes closed and breating hard through clenched teeth, pressing his jaw hard to try and dull the pain. He opened his eyes and saw Yoruichi peeking at him from the top of his field of vision.

"I told you it was enough, you can barely stand."

"I don't..." He struggled to talk while breathing heavily, sweat running down his face. "Want to stop..."

Yoruichi bent down with her hands on her hips, smirking.

"But sensei says it's enough. Get your butt off the ground and take a break."

Yaso closed his eyes and smiled.

_Goodness, I love this woman._

It wasn't a romantic notion really. True, she was an exotic, attractive beauty, and the first time they met she had shown him pretty much everything she could show, in a bid to shock him for her own amusement. But it wasn't that kind of attraction. Before being kicked out of the dojo, Yaso had had the greatest respect for his sensei. Now, not so much. The biggest reason was the way he had been kicked out, but deep down he was also disappointed he had managed to beat his sensei in a sparring match with the first trick he tried that wasn't in the book.

Yoruichi was different. It'd be a hundred years before he could beat her, if that. And it wasn't a figure of speech, he felt it'd take that long quite literally.

Quirky sense of humour and all, she was too good to be true.

Not real.

***Thunk***

Yoruichi looked at Yaso quizzically after that feeler pulse, the kind Yaso seemed to produce every so often, usually when he was annoyed. She still hadn't managed to figure out what it was, all they had was Seree's comment on it being similar to what she had felt when trying to heal Yaso with her kidō. But this time he didn't look upset at all.

"Two pennies for your thoughts." Yoruichi said, smirking again.

"Who cares if she isn't?" Yaso murmured.

"Huh?"

"No, nothing, sensei."

"Aah, and I was being so generous, offering twice the market rate!"

Yaso laughed and sat up, slowly getting his breathing under control. He puffed his cheeks as he breathed out and, helped by Yoruichi, stood up.

"Well, you _are_ getting better. At this rate you'll be able to catch me..."

"… in a hundred years, I know." Yaso interrupted.

Yoruichi looked at him and smirked. "Only if you work hard."

As they walked off, Urahara called them from his improvised seat on one of the boulders. He was waving a wad of paper at them.

"Yoruichi-saaaan, you have mail!" He cried out with a goofy voice.

"Huh? Mail? Oh, right!" She clapped both hands together. "Suì-Fēng is fast as always!"

"Suì-Fēng?" Yaso asked curious, following Yoruichi and reading over her shoulder.

"Yeah, she used to be my subordinate." Yoruichi answered as she casually flipped pages.

"Hey, that's Katsutoshi!" Yaso pointed at the picture on the page.

"Yes, Seree found his file in the archives. Takeuchi Maano, former Shinigami, he was... Hmmm..."

Yaso looked at the scribbles, unable to read even a single symbol. Whoever wrote them had either the worst calligraphy in the history of ever, was writing gibberish just to fill pages and time, or was using a language he hadn't even seen before.

"What on earth does it say?"

"Not much, actually. Ten years of service, then discharged from duty after killing several people and two of his comrades during a routine mission."

Yaso looked at Yoruichi, then at Urahara. There was an exchange of glances that he didn't quite understand.

"What's wrong?" He finally asked.

"Well, well." Urahara talked in a calm voice, without using his fan or doing any other goofy gesture. "Let's just say that when someone is discharged under those circumstances..." He looked at Yaso, and for a moment he caught a rather scary-looking look in his eyes. "They shouldn't be running around like that."

"Sheesh." Yaso shook his head. "You make it sound like he should be dead or something."

"Nothing so dramatic." Yoruichi answered. "But really, the Onmitsukidō must be slacking something fierce for something like this to happen. They actually let this guy escape?"

"Uh..." Yaso hesitated. "Is there anything else useful written in there?"

"Not really." Yoruichi slammed the wad of paper down, disappointed. "Nothing on his Zanpakutō, nothing on his abilities. As far as we know, just some low level Shinigami with an attitude problem."

"Oooh, Yoruichi-san, you missed one little detail!" Urahara replied, picking one of the pages and presenting it to her half an inch from her nose.

"What?" She snatched the page annoyed, then her face failed to conceal the shock.

"What now?" Yaso asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Yoruichi snapped.

"What is it sensei?"

"Oi Urahara." She turned to the man in the striped hat, completely ignoring Yaso. "Taken into custody by_ Aizen_?"

Yaso looked at them again, and sighed. They were making no sense at all, and it didn't look like they were about to explain. He sat down, or rather fell down on his butt as his legs failed him. Ah well, he could use the break. He had no doubt an entire conversation was being exchanged between those two with mere glances.

"We're done for today, Yaso."

"Yeah, I figured as much." He looked at Yoruichi, with a bored expression. "Not going to tell me?"

"It's not the time for pointless history lessons." She shrugged. "That's really all there is to it for now."

"For now?"

"Yeah. We just have to look into it."

Yoruichi helped Yaso to his feet and, with some difficulty, he climbed up the ladder and went on his way. When he was gone, she and Urahara walked back into the shop, talking.

"So." She said.

"So." Urahara replied.

"You figured it out?" She pointed back with her thumb over her shoulder in the direction Yaso had left.

"The timeline fits." Urahara shrugged. "Two years ago. That's about the time Kurosaki-kun got Kuchiki-san's Shinigami powers, when he had no control over his reiatsu. And..."

"The Hōgyoku."

"Yes. Just like his friends, Kurosaki-kun's reiatsu and then the Hōgyoku probably made him develop his abilities."

"But it's a bit strange, don't you think? Inoue, Sado, they got abilities that let them fight, which developed from the desire of their own hearts. But for Yaso it's pretty much the opposite, and if it's something he desired he shouldn't be so confused..." She suddenly turned to Urahara. "Wait, you said _abilities_? Plural?"

"Yes!" He raised a finger, speaking in a festive tone. "Like you said, it looks like something is missing!"

"And it is...?"

"Dunno." He shrugged with a goofy smile. "Maybe you can beat it out of him?"

"Well..." She grinned. "It does look like it may just come out when he's fighting."

Seree was laying on her cot, looking at the butterfly resting on her nose. She wondered what Yaso was doing. If her time in the living world was any indication, he should be resting after training. Come to think of it, that was how she had shared most of the time with him, watching him train or healing his wounds. If Yoruichi had been her usual rough self, Yaso probably could use her help right about now.

"Aaaargh! It's no use!" She shook her head, rubbing her hands on her hair in frustration and sending the Hell Butterfly flying in surprise. "I can't spend two weeks in here like this!"

Yaso was laying on his bed with similar thoughts in his head. He ached all over, after idiotically pushing himself over the limit like that. He felt extremely confused, didn't even know where to start sorting through everything that had happened that day. More than that, he was desperately tired. He could wait for the morning.

He turned and winced as his elbow pushed on a large bruise. He wondered where Seree was, and decided it'd be best to ask that Rukia girl about her in the morning. Too damn tired to think about it that night.

_Still... It'd have been nice to have her around._


	40. Chapter 40

Two weeks can be a very long time. It felt extraordinarily long for Seree, whose constant and seemingly random outbursts, as her brain worked itself into knots out of boredom, had worried Isane that the girl was going crazy. The correct term would have been stir-crazy, and as soon as time was up and the cell was open, she practically flew out of the building, running as fast as her legs would carry her until she reached the outside world, basking in the glowing sun and taking deep breaths of open air.

"Freedom!" She cried out, pumping a fist in the air and earning puzzled looks from every Shinigami passerby.

"Not yet." Isane interrupted her, smiling kindly.

"Eh?"

"You still have four weeks of extra duties." Isane leaned forward and showed her a sheet of paper with a neatly arranged schedule, starting every day at the time her regular duties ended, and extending into the late evening. "You haven't forgotten, have you?"

"Ah." She looked somewhat bummed, but cheered up again. "It's fine! At least I'll be outside!"

While they were talking, a Hell Butterfly came flying out of the building and landed on Seree's head. Isane stifled a laugh.

"Seree-chan, what's with that butterfly? It follows you everywhere!"

"I know! Fufum is a great friend, he cheered me up while I was in there too. Fufum, this is Lieutenant Kotetsu."

Isane looked at the butterfly, and for an instant had the distinctive feeling it was looking back at her. Smiling, she decided to humour Seree.

"It's a pleasure, Fufum-kun."

The butterfly opened and closed its wings once, and that was it.

"Speaking of which..." Seree talked as she examined the list Isane had handed her. "I'm on Hell Butterfly duty again?"

"Yes, the Captain said you'd do fine. You better not disappoint her!"

"Hmmm. Is it okay if I take some of the feed for Fufum?"

"I suppose so... But first, let's go see the Captain." Isane smiled at Seree encouragingly, even as the girl blanched slightly. "Don't worry, the Captain is not mad anymore, you've gotten your punishment and that's it. It's been two weeks already!"

Two weeks felt like an eternity cooped up inside a cell with nothing to do. For someone doing regular duties, it was barely enough to get something done. Hisagi adjusted the Lieutenant badge on his arm and left his bedroom. Seree was getting out of jail today, and now he had to babysit her while she was doing her extra duties.

"What a bother." He murmured as he closed the door behind him.

However, there was a reason why she had been brought back to Soul Society in such a hurry. And Isane had asked him, so it's not like he could say no.

He looked at his Zanpakutō. Two weeks of intense training after getting his arm cut off like that. It was not enough. He didn't know enough about the enemy, just what they had found out after investigating the attack and what he had felt in his own flesh. It was kidō, or a Zanpakutō's ability. Regardless, it was based on reiatsu, and as such it could be countered. Or so he hoped.

But first, there was the meeting in Captain Unohana's office.

"Hisagi-kun, good morning."

"Good morning Captain." He replied, then nodded to Isane and Seree.

The meeting was a lot shorter than Hisagi had expected, but Captain Unohana was no more fond of pointless bureaucracy than he was. After making sure Seree understood she was not to get any more funny ideas about skipping on her duties, they went over the list to make sure Hisagi knew where to be. Seree's relief was almost palpable when they left the office.

"Hisagi-san, I'm sorry for the trouble." Seree apologized as they walked along once they were outside.

"Ah, it's okay, someone has to keep an eye on you."

"Seree-chan is like a little stray cat!" Isane replied, mussing the girl's multicolored hair.

"Lieutenant!" She covered her hair, embarrassed. "But... It's like Hisagi-san is being punished too."

"All the more reason for you not to wander off, little kitten!" Isane replied, embarrassing her even more.

"Don't worry, Seree-chan. You're not interrupting anything."

"Eh?"

"Shuuhei has been doing special training." Isane answered. "To fight the ryoka."

"Really?" Seree replied, more surprised than she should have been. "You found a way to fight him Lieutenant?"

Hisagi looked at his arm, pressing his hand into a tight fist.

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"We haven't been sitting idly while you were in there, Seree-chan." He replied, and for a moment Seree felt Hisagi was reprimanding her. "After you found out who Katsutoshi was, we've been investigating."

"What did you find?"

"Not much, unfortunately. Other than how he got discharged from duty and..." Hisagi hesitated. "And the fact that he escaped from the Maggots' Nest."

Seree looked completely oblivious, because she had no idea what the Maggots' Nest was. Not many people were familiar with the prison under the supervision of the Onmitsukidō. When a Shinigami is deemed a danger to the Gotei 13 or Soul Society, they are thrown in there, and under normal circumstances nobody ever leaves.

"What does that mean?" Seree asked.

"Pretty much that this Katsutoshi is a very dangerous person, Seree-chan." Isane answered, giving her a very significant look.

"I'm not escaping..." Seree sighed.

"You better! Regardless, we also found out his ability is either kidō or Zanpakutō based, so I've been training for that after hours in order to have a counter. And with that, I have to go. I will see you later." Hisagi looked at her, then at Isane, and Seree thought for an instant the look the Lieutenants exchanged was a bit too familiar. "Later, Isane."

Seree looked at her Lieutenant, then back at Hisagi, and smirked.

_What have I missed in the last two weeks?_

Two weeks is not much time for training. It is good enough to polish one move, or to correct a specific defect. Real changes require either long, hard work, or risking one's life on the line in battle. Yaso was well aware of the fact, two weeks of training had been enough to get him back into form and recover his familiarity with the years of training he had put in iaidō. He was not much closer to being able to catch up to Yoruichi than he was when the training started. Yoruichi too had realized it wasn't going to bring everything out of Yaso in a hurry. It was going to be hard slog, unless something extraordinary happened.

"Oi Yaso, you're early today!"

"Yoruichi-sensei, good morning."

It was opening time for the shop, and the two brats were running around cleaning everything and stocking the shelves, while Renji was carrying all the heavy merchandise. It was ridiculous, he had never seen anyone other than the crazies walk into that shop in all the time he had been there. It had to be a front for something, but it was all too strange. It had been only two weeks, he still hadn't managed to cast all the nagging doubts he had grown accustomed to in the last two years.

"I'm afraid you're too early, I've got things to do today."

"Oh. Well, that's okay, what time should I come back?"

"Actually..." Yoruichi's face lit up with a mischievous grin. "Go get changed, you're coming with me."

"Huh. Okay."

A few minutes later, Yaso emerged wearing the Shinigami Academy uniform Yoruichi had given him. It was awkward at first, but he grew accustomed to it fast enough, it was very comfortable and surprisingly resilient. Yoruichi was nowhere to be seen when he emerged.

"Sensei?"

"I'll be right there!" Her voice responded from the back of the shop.

Yaso spent some minutes exploring the shelves of the shop. Just random assortment of candy, pocky, some toys, there wasn't even a theme to the dang shop. His eyes stopped at the rows of candy dispenser engraved with "Soul Candy" on the side. He wasn't surprised nobody was buying those, at least.

"Ready?" Yoruichi interrupted him. "Hm, whatcha making that face for?"

"No, nothing, just these." He pointed at the dispensers with his index finger.

"Ah, you got one of those right?"

"Actually yes, I don't even know why I carry it." He searched his pocket and produced the Chappy Soul Candy dispenser. "Does anyone like these things?"

"What do you mean?"

"They have no taste, and on top of that they make me choke. Seriously, do you guys ever sell anything in this shop?"

"They're an acquired taste, true. Now, grab these."

"Eh?" Yaso looked at her, while putting Chappy back in his pocket.

For an answer, Yoruichi threw a large bundle at Yaso. He caught it mid-air and nearly buckled under the sudden weight.

"What on earth is this?"

_And how on earth did you toss it so easily, you demon woman?_

"Training! We're going around town to plant those." Yoruichi pointed at the bundle, consisting of at least two dozen long metallic objects, one of the ends pointy and the other with three pilot lights in a row blinking green. "Kisuke just finished them, an early warning system. The exercise will do you good."

"You just want someone to carry them..." Yaso mumbled.

"What was that?"

"No... Nothing..." Yaso answered, unable to feel the Aura of Doom™ that had suddenly surrounded Yoruichi, but very conscious to the fact that it was a bad idea to argue.

"Good boy. Kisuke's been working hard on these for the last two weeks. Let's go!"

Two weeks can feel like bliss when in good company. Few people would think that two weeks of Orihime's cooking would feel like such, but Matsumoto thought it was the best thing in the world. She only wished her captain had come to the real world with her so that he could enjoy it too. He needed to loosen up some.

"So Seree-chan is getting out of jail today?" Orihime asked, munching on her sweet bean paste filled cheesecake with sautéed onions sauce. "That's great! I want to meet her! She sounds like so much fun!"

"Really, she's so much fun to tease!" Matsumoto replied, dipping her ginger bread in the tomato soup. "But I'm not sure she'll come back soon... She probably has extra punishment duties to do."

"Hmmmm. You sound like you know all about that, Rangiku-san."

"Eh-ehehehe." Matsumoto scratched the back of her head and poked her tongue out. "Maybe a little. But really, she got into more trouble than I've gotten before."

"Maybe you can teach her how to get out of it!" Orihime replied enthusiastically, squeezing some extra lemon juice on the cheesecake.

"I'm not sure if I could manage with Captain Unohaha... I think I'm tuned to my cute little Captain. But at this rate I'm not sure she'll be back, it's been two weeks and we haven't seen any of those weird hollows again."

"Yeah, seems like I missed a lot."

"Well, I don't mind how quiet it's been in the last two weeks!"

Two weeks is not a long time. It is not enough to create a plan capable of completing great objectives. It is enough, though, to prepare to put in motion much larger ones. It was much later in the day that they found out about them. Those who trained diligently during those two weeks, those who spent the time at their leisure, but more importantly, those who spent the two weeks preparing as fast as they could, realized it was barely enough time.

As far as races go, unbeknown to the participants, that one turned out to be completely even. It began when the alarms came to life in the Wave Measurement Lab in Soul Society.

And in the back room of the Urahara shop.


	41. Chapter 41: Omake 2

**Fade in, a chibi shinigami runs across the screen as a rainbow curtain sweeps through it.**

"So, Seree-chan, as you can see the hot water pump is broken, so we cannot open the hot springs today unless you help us bring water up. All we have is the cold water running."

The old lady pointed at a pile of wooden buckets and the pool of nearly boiling water from the natural springs. The magnificent view from the top baths was one of the main attractions of the resort, but getting the water there meant a pump, or lots of manual labour.

"Okay! Captain Unohana said I should help, so here I go!"

The first trip, with two buckets balanced on her back at the ends of a long cane, was easy. The second somewhat harder. By the tenth she could hardly lift her legs.

"Please hurry, Seree-chan!" The old lady pleaded. "The first guests have arrived!"

The water was nowhere near warm enough on the women's side of the baths. There were some men working on the men's side, and she neither knew nor cared how far ahead they were.

"Ara, Seree-chan?" A familiar voice called. Her Lieutenant.

Seree looked up, and was surprised to see several female Shinigami walking in. Isane, Kiyone, Nanao, Captain Unohana, Captain Suì-Fēng, and Yachiru.

"Oh, hello everyone!"

"Working hard, Seree-chan?" Captain Unohana asked, and the girl nodded.

"Of course! Why is everyone here?"

"The Shinigami Women's Association is having a goodwill trip with the Shinigami's Men Association. We have come to the resort in an effort to harmonize our organizations." Nanao replied, adjusting her glasses.

"Wow, amazing." Seree responded. "But I'm sorry... The baths are not ready y-"

She suddenly stopped talking when a lightbulb appeared over her head.

"That's it! I have an idea, the baths will be ready in a few minutes, please feel free to come in!"

"Eh?" The old woman looked at Seree in surprise, but the latter just winked at her.

"Leave it to me!"

She rushed up and out to the baths outside, and unsheathed her Zanpakutō. The rest of the Shinigami women peeked from the door, curious. On the other side, the men were making a phenomenal ruckus in the water.

"Winter, Summer, bloom unabashed, Yaezakura!"

A shiver ran down the length of the blade as she slashed, and the searing edge and freezing back of her sword greeted her. Without hesitation, she stabbed it on the ground at the edge of the free running water. As the water touched the searing edge of Yaezakura, it was brought nearly to a boil, and in minutes the women were spending a relaxing time inside the very warm and thoroughly wonderful pool.

"It's getting a bit too hot, Seree-chan!" Isane called, waving.

"Sure! Let me just... There."

Seree pulled back at the handle, and moved the edge of her Zanpakutō away from the water towards the separation of the male and female baths.

"Hmmm, so wonderful." Kiyone murmured, getting almost all the way into the water, up to her nose and blowing a hundred little bubbles, satisfied.

"Good work, Seree-chan." Unohana praised her, prompting the girl to blush and stammer noticeably. "I am glad to see you take your extra duties seriously."

"It's so nice..." Isane commented, looking at the valley extending under their vantage position.

Yes. I wonder what the men are doing, they were so noisy a minute ago..." Seree commented.

On the other side, Kira, Iba, Ukitake, Hisagi and Ōmaeda were looking somewhat blue, due to being encased in the frozen pool, turned into ice when the back of Yaezakura had accidentally landed propped against the wall by the water intake on their side of the baths.

"It's... Not... Fair..." Iba said slowly, before freezing solid.


	42. Chapter 42

"Hisagi-san..."

Seree looked at the Lieutenant of the 9th Division, who returned her gaze rather unsympathetically. They were standing at the gate of the 12th division's headquarters, where Seree's next extra duties lay. And she really, really didn't want to walk into that place. Seree's Hell Butterfly flew ahead, fluttering closer to the gates and, as if agreeing with it being a bad idea, fluttered back and landed on her head.

"What is it?"

"I... Um... Do I have to...?" _Stupid girl, of course you have to!_

"Don't be silly, Captain Kurotsuchi isn't going to eat you." He let himself smile slightly. "It can't be worse than Captain Unohana, can it?"

Seree shuddered. Now she understood that saying about being between a rock and a hard place. Hisagi looked around the familiar grounds, and his eyes stopped on one of the empty equipment testing courtyards.

"You should be safe enough in there, I'll be waiting over there until you're done."

"More training? What kind of training have you been doing, Lieutenant?"

"Oh no." He smirked. "No buying time with chit-chat. Off you go."

Hisagi pointed at the gate and, with a sigh, Seree started the slow dreary walk. She called with a small voice when she walked through the open area, and relaxed slightly when she saw Nemu waiting for her.

"Lieutenant Kurotsuchi?"

"Mayuri-sama has put me in charge of overseeing your extra duties. Please come with me."

Perfect timing or pure coincidence, the alarms at the top room of the tower, the Wave Measurement Lab, started ringing at that moment.

"Intruder!" A voice called.

"We have confirmation match to the ryoka's reiatsu!" Another one did, almost at the same time.

"Put it on screen! Alert the Captain!"

A dozen eyes turned to the giant screen with the map of the Court of Pure Souls superimposed. A thin yellow line extended slowly along the northern edge of the giant wall, then another, and another, First tens, then hundreds of them, bright yellow on the map.

"What... What the hell is this?"

"Alert the Captain already!"

"Yes sir!"

The confusion abated when one of the thin lines extended at full speed and, clashing with the tower, enveloped it in a bubble. An instant later, in the eyes of everyone outside of it, it winked out of existence.

The alarms stopped.

"What the hell?" Hisagi asked to noone in particular. He looked around frantically. The court seemed to be changing right in front of his eyes, parts disappearing left and right. The feeling was familiar, but the scale of the attack was beyond anything he had imagined. He had no time to lose. "Reap, Kazeshini!"

He concentrated and focused all his reiatsu on his weapon. It had been his training for the last two weeks, it had to work. He jumped out of the testing grounds, and threw one end of Kazeshini through the line on the ground where the research tower used to be. There was a shudder, and as his reiatsu spiked, a hole appeared around the chain of Kazeshini, piercing the dimensional barrier. Hisagi caught a glimpse of the tower through it, but it quickly disappeared. Instead, a barren landscape of white sand and dark sky peered at him for an moment, then a different one. Layers upon layers of dimensional shifts. The hole started closing, so Hisagi pulled at the chain, recovering his Zanpakutō.

_Crap; it works, but what the heck is going on?_

Almost by instinct, he turned to see the court he stood on shrinking, as another dimensional barrier approached. He jumped to the side and launched a new attack, breaking through the barrier and, for a moment, stopping its advance and making the court recover its shape.

_It's becoming a freaking maze. What the hell do I do now?_

Yaso looked up. There was an insistent beeping noise coming from somewhere above the giant training room under the Urahara shop.

"Sensei, what's that?"

"I'll go check." Yoruichi replied.

Yaso shrugged and continued with his warm-up exercises. Yoruichi climbed up the ladder and poked her head inside one of the back rooms of the shop. Urahara was sitting cross-legged in front of a computer.

"What's going on, Kisuke?"

"Take a look." He pointed at the screen. "The sensors you planted are lighting all over the city." He turned to the screen, and Yoruichi peeked over his shoulder. "There are signals all over Karakura."

"What do we do? We should..."

They both stopped talking when one of the signals on the map flashed brighter, and launched itself at full speed from the outskirts of town towards the Urahara shop.

"It's coming!" Yoruichi shouted.

"Let's go!"

Yoruichi was about to rush out of the shop when she turned her eyes to the open trap door above the training space.

"Oh crap, Yaso!"

"Forget him!" Urahara shouted, pulling at her arm. They both grabbed the bewildered children as they rushed out, followed closely by Tessai. Mere moments later, the shop and several buildings around it disappeared in the blink of an eye. All five of them looked at the space where the shop used to be, with wide, surprised eyes. Jinta and Ururu looked like they couldn't even close their mouths on their own.

"Oi Kisuke, what the heck is going on? This is..."

"A bit bigger than expected, yes." He finished for Yoruichi.

"A _bit_?" She turned to the non-existent shop. "And we left Yaso there."

"He'll be fine, remember?" He grinned at her, then changed his goofy expression to a deadly serious one. "Tessai, let's do this."

"Yes, Urahara-dono."

Tessai fell to his knees and started chanting something. His reiatsu steadily increased as the incantation progressed. Urahara unsheathed Benihime and, calling it forth into shikai, took a step back, pointing with it at the invisible dimensional pocket and placing his right hand over the blade. He started muttering, matching his incantation to Tessai's. They both finished at the exact same time.

"Poison of the Soul!" Tessai cried out, launching a ball of red energy forward.

"Reveal it all, Benihime!" Urahara called.

For a combination kidō developed in under one week, it worked marvellously. A bolt of blood red energy shot from Benihime, hitting Tessai's kidō and crashing on the invisible dimensional barrier. Like a blot of ink, a thin layer reminiscent of a fine mist started spreading on the barrier. It looked like a giant sheet of translucent red paper, an endless wall twenty meters high made of red mist. Then the blot extended some more. And some more.

"K-Kisuke..." Yoruichi muttered, looking at the mist spread.

"It certainly is a lot bigger than expected."

In seconds, dozens of large hair-thin walls could be seen running across town, seemingly gathering at some spot beyond its boundaries. There, they shot through the sky and disappeared. Urahara turned with his goofy smile on his face towards the rest, but at that moment he noticed Tessai still kneeling down and concentrating hard.

"Isn't it done?" He asked.

"It... is still... going..." Tessai struggled to say, keeping his reiatsu at its peak.

Yoruichi looked around her, unconvinced.

"Going where?"

Hisagi was running through the streets of Seireitei as fast as his legs would carry him. Whatever it was, there had to be a place where the attack was coming from. As another piece of the Court of Pure Souls disappeared in front of his eyes, he threw Kazeshini, creating an opening in the dimensional barrier. Using it as an anchor, he pulled himself through it before it could close again. It was becoming thicker, isolating all parts of the Shinigami forces in separate spaces.

He had felt the Captain-Commander's reiatsu surging once, when there was a large disturbance in the inner court. Probably repelling one of those barrier. Hisagi looked at Kazeshini. It looked like a toy in comparison to the Captain-Commander's reiatsu. If he was fine, then all they had to do was find where Katsutoshi was.

_It has to be him, but who would have thought he'd try to get the entire Court of Pure Souls!_

"Shuuhei!"

Hisagi turned to see Isane running towards him, waving. His eyes opened wide in surprise when she suddenly disappeared, together with the ground she was running on. Without second thoughts, he poured his reiatsu into Kazeshini and threw it forward decisively.

_Don't move anywhere unexpected, Isane!_

A hope opened in the barrier. Kazeshini's blade passed mere millimetres away from Isane, clipping the sleeve of her shirt. With a pull, Hisagi wrapped the chain around her body, and with a second pull he got her out of the dimensional pocket, instants before it closed again around his weapon. It seemed to be gaining the ability to close faster and faster.

He reached out with his arms and held Isane firmly as she crashed on him. An instant later, Kazeshini's chain slid down her body, freeing her.

"Isane, are you okay?"

"Y-Yes, thank you Shuuhei!"

"What are you doing out here?" He let go and looked at her. "What's Captain Unohana doing?"

"She sent me to look for you and Seree, where is she?"

Hisagi shook his head. "The 12th division's tower disappeared, just like everything else."

"Can you...?" Isane looked down at Kazeshini, but Hisagi shook his head again.

"I tried, there must be a hundred different dimensions between us and the tower, whatever he's planning he doesn't want the Wave Measurement Lab to see."

"But what's going on? There's no attack, there's nothing other than this... Well, this weird..."

They both suddenly quieted down when a strange red mist started pouring down from the sky. At first they didn't see anything particular about it, but soon it started spreading around the Court of Pure Souls, hundreds of flat sheets of red mist along the edges of the collapsed dimensional barriers. Soon there was a network of red mist walls criss-crossing all over Seireitei.

"Shuuhei... That's..."

"I have no idea, but we can see them now. Bloody... Half of Seireitei is gone. What is he trying to do?"

Their eyes followed the contours of the dimensional barriers, as they twisted and twirled around the court. There was no pattern to them, just more and more of Seireitei being ripped between different dimensions.

"Look!"

Isane was pointing to their right. An offshot from the mess of barriers disappeared in the distance, the only visible irregularity.

"I don't know what's going on, but now that we see it, let's follow it!" He launched ahead, running as fast as his legs would carry him. "Stay close Isane!"

"Yes!"

Hisagi felt several powerful reiatsus behind him all over the court. If he could pierce the barriers, even momentarily, it was likely the Captains wouldn't have a problem doing the same. Katsutoshi didn't strike him as the kind who would overlook such a weakness. He had to have a plan to deal with the Captains.

As if answering his question, he suddenly felt dozens, hundreds of reiatsus hitting him as hollow portals appeared all over the Court. Twice as many suddenly appeared as the barriers contorted and changed shape ever so slightly to reveal them.

An invasion force. He felt the reiatsu matched that of the modified hollows they had been fighting before. It'd slow down the Captains, perhaps. It was still not enough, there had to be more to this.

"That's..." Isane said, looking behind her as the hollows appeared.

"Yes, let's keep going."

As they ran, several layers of red mist appeared in front of them, Hisagi pierced them with Kazeshini, but even more appeared. His reiatsu reached its peak as he pushed, creating a narrow corridor for them to cross. It was still not enough, even more barriers appeared.

_Crap, if we get stuck between barriers, these things will slice us in half!_

"Hadō eleven, Bound Lightning!"

Isane touched Hisagi's Zanpakutō, and a flash of yellow energy flowed along its chain. The added kidō and reiatsu was enough to break through the remaining barriers, and the blade of Kazeshini embedded itself on the ground beyond them. Hisagi put an arm around Isane's waist, and with a mighty pull, used the chain to cross through to the other side. When they landed and looked back, the Court of Pure Souls was gone, it was as if they were standing in the outskirts of Rukongai.

"Where are we?" Hisagi asked.

"Um... I don't know..."

"Hm?"

Hisagi looked at Isane, and noticed she looked rather distracted, and blushing noticeably. He then realized he was still holding her by the waist. He smiled and let go of her. She recovered well, stammering ever so slightly before getting her Shinigami Lieutenant demeanour back.

"Oh look!" She pointed at a large gate some fifty meters away from them, with the number two character drawn on it in very large font. "We're in the Second Division's grounds."

"And that's the yellow brick road." Hisagi said, pointing at the red mist of the lone dimensional wall reaching deep into the Second Division's grounds.

"Yellow... what?"

"Oh, you don't know the story? I'll tell you later. Let's follow this. There has to be something being kept secret inside this dimensional barrier."

Inside a completely different dimensional bubble, Seree stood up and shook her head. It had been the loudest crash she could remember, and everything around her had pretty much exploded into complete chaos. She opened her eyes, and saw that the bottom of the tower was all that was left of it. It looked like a giant knife had sliced everything above her head and made it disappear. And there was this wavering red mist surrounding the space she was in. Her eyes stopped searching when they fell on Nemu. She was laying on the floor in a puddle of blood, and her legs were...

_Gone._

She found them immediately, a good twenty meters away from the rest of her.

"Lieutenant Kurotsuchi!" She cried out, rushing to her side.

"I seem to be... Unable... To move..." Nemu replied weakly. "My deepest... apologies..."

_Goodness, she's lost a lot of blood. How did this happen?_

"Don't worry! I'll..."

Seree suddenly stood up and ran towards Nemu's legs. She took them in her arms, and rushed back to the Lieutenant's side. Throwing her Fourth Division Pack open, she started to put her body together. It was the greatest challenge for a healer, reattaching limbs required an amount of precision that couldn't be reached with just skill alone. It was necessary to harmonize with the patient's reiatsu and restore the natural flow through the body from the patient's own body memory. A delicate and supremely intricate procedure.

She managed to stop most of the bleeding by reconnecting the biggest blood vessels with some hastily done kidō. After that she secured the limbs in place with the use of medical patches, and wound them tightly with bandages. It was just one notch above useless, but she couldn't even begin to think about mending such wounds without physically seeing the legs in their proper place at the very least.

_Still, it's amazing that she's even alive after this, nevermind being conscious and apologizing to me!_

She closed her eyes, breathed deeply, and placed her hands a few inches above Nemu's body. A soft green glow covered the palms of her hands, and her patient groaned softly in pain.

"Please bear with me, Lieutenant Kurotsuchi."

_My kidō is not good enough, I still can't... No, it has to be good enough. Nobody else can help. I have to do it!_

Seree looked at Nemu. She was almost expressionless, but she had to be in agony if she was conscious. Was she even completely conscious? She looked very small, and very helpless.

"Nemu-san, I'll have you up and running in no time, trust me!"

Seree wasn't sure if she had imagined the small smile on Nemu's face or if it had been real.


	43. Chapter 43

Tessai breathed in relief as the kidō finally stopped. He could hardly remember doing anything so tiring with kidō since their escape from Soul Society.

"It is finished." He announced solemnly.

"Whew, about time!" Urahara said cheerfully. "Look at that, it's all over the place!"

"Kisuke, that..." Yoruichi said, pointing at the red mist reaching to the sky and disappearing.

"Yes, it seems it is connected to some other place." He thought for a few seconds "Soul Society?" He finally offered.

"How do we contact them?"

"That's going to be a bit complicated."

Urahara looked up and concentrated, sensing the reiatsu of the Shinigami moving about town. Renji. Matsumoto. Ichigo. Rukia. Orihime too.

"Seems like everyone is okay." He said.

"Yes, should we..."

They were interrupted by the screaming of hollows. Several portals appeared in the orange sky of the late afternoon. Then some more. Dozens of merged hollows. A portal appeared right above their heads, and as a four-legged dog hollow with a rattlesnake tail fell on them, Ururu woke up.

"Target acquired. Proceeding to eliminate!"

The hollow landed with a loud thump and, as it recovered, the girl was launching herself straight at it. It made a swipe with its right paw, and instead of an attack it became a landing spot for Ururu to propel herself forward and land a hideously tremendous kick on the hollow's face. There was a loud bang as Ururu's leg broke the speed of sound, and the sonic boom together with her foot shattered the hollow's head into a million little pieces, evaporating them into spirit particles in the air.

"Threat. Neutralized."

Unfortunately for her, the rest of the body split into three other individual hollows, and barely a heartbeat later, they merged together once more with hideous loud screech. Ururu didn't seem frightened, or surprised. With robotic determination, she jumped over the next attack from the hollow and crushed its new head with a forward spin landing a kick on it. The body split again, but before they could merge once more, Urahara made his move.

"Sing, Benihime!"

Two red arcs of deadly energy shot from his blade, killing the two hollows instantly. He calmly placed the blade on his shoulder and whistled.

"Threat. Neutralized." Ururu repeated in a flat voice.

"Good going, Ururu!" Urahara called, smiling.

"Still..." Yoruichi muttered, turning to Urahara. "What are they after? Just making noise?"

"Nothing here, I'm sure." He responded. "It could be something as simple as getting revenge on Soul Society, but I doubt it."

"Aizen?"

"We never found out anything about that."

"Well, then what!" She exclaimed, exasperated.

"For now, we should try to find Katsutoshi."

"Are you sure he's here?" Yoruichi looked around at the maze of translucent red walls, then at the barrier disappearing into the darkening sky.

"He's bringing hollows in and going after Soul Society." Urahara spoke looking up at the sky. "The most likely place to link them is through spirit power-rich Karakura town."

"We better tell the others."

Matsumoto was sitting in front of a table laden with food, a spread capable of killing at least a dozen adult men, after suffering being prepared by both Orihime and Rangiku. She was waiting patiently for Orihime to bring the last dish, which she had claimed would be a "surprise".

Matsumoto could hardly wait.

"Here it is!" Orihime cried out cheerfully, bringing a large serving bowl to the table. "Radish and pumpkin sweet bean surprise!"

"Hmmmm! Sounds yumm-"

Matsumoto stopped with the spoon a few inches away from the Bowl of Death™, and Orihime let go of it right before she set it down. For a moment neither of them said anything, until the blood-curling cry of a dozen different hollows broke the silence.

"That's..." Orihime started.

"...Hollow!" Matsumoto finished.

Matsumoto took a soul candy and jumped out of her gigai. They both rushed outside, and stood almost petrified by what they saw. Hollows, far too many of them, roaming around Karakura town. And a labyrinth of translucent red walls criss-crossing all over the small city. Their wonder was cut short when a flying hollow swept down from the sky, going straight for them. It folded back its bat-like wings, and dove with its six insectoid legs reaching for them.

"Santen Kesshun!"

The hollow crashed on the barrier face first, and Matsumoto took Orihime out of the way when it made a swipe at them like nothing had happened. A short shunpo later they landed on the roof of the apartment building.

"Are you okay, Orihime-chan?" Matsumoto asked.

"Y-Yes! That was scary! Are these the hollows you told me about?"

"Yes." She turned around and pulled her Zanpakutō out of its sheath. "But there's so many of them..." She raised her katana, putting both hands together on the hilt. "Growl, Haineko!"

The weapon turned into a cloud of ash, and it circled around the two of them, turning into a whirlwind. The hollow had flown up to their height, and launched itself forward. Once it was inside the ash cloud, Matsumoto slashed down with the hilt, and the hollow screamed in pain, as several wounds appeared along its body.

Matsumoto smirked. These hollow were still as stupid as ever, no matter how much stronger they got.

"Rangiku-san!"

"Hehe, easy peasy!" She turned to Orihime and made a victory sign.

Orihime's expression changed suddenly, looking at something behind Matsumoto. She turned, slowly, to see the mortally wounded merged hollow splitting back into its individual components. A giant insect hollow, a bat, a slug. The bat disintegrated into spirit particles, and for an instant there was a loud buzz and a terrible howling, and the two remaining hollow merged again into one. A bettle-like monster with a soft, gooey underbelly and six legs awkwardly stuck to it.

It had all happened in the blink of an eye. The hollow's screams continued, and it turned to the two women. A sphere of red and back energy appeared in front of its face, and Matsumoto snapped into action.

"Haineko!"

She slashed up with the hilt of her Zanpakutō, directing Haineko to make a curtain of ash in front of them. The hollow's cero crashed on it, blowing most of the ash away and managing to get through.

_Oh crap!_

"Santen Kesshun!"

The second explosion was larger, but even as if fell to pieces, Orihime's shield held fast until the cero was gone. Matsumoto jumped up until she was over the cloud of dust and debris, and pointed at the hollow with her right palm.

"Hadō thirty-one, Red Fire Cannon!"

The hollow reeled as the spell exploded on its face. Matsumoto directed Haineko forward with her left hand, and making a wide slash, she attacked with the hilt. To her surprise, the hollow was nearly unharmed as most of the attack was deflected as it hit the strong elytra on the hollow's back. Immediately after her attack, it raised them and the insect's wings propelled it into the sky, launching itself straight at her. Matsumoto dodged awkwardly, not even seeing where she was going to land.

"Rangiku-san! Behind you!"

A second hollow was almost on top of her. She could only see its ugly face with tentacles arranged all around it, and a hungry-looking snapping beak that opened wide to welcome her as she fell backwards.

_Oh no!_

Ichigo was pacing around his room with an annoyed expression, back and forth, back and forth.

"Oi Rukia, you have a bed in my sisters' room now, don't hide in my closet."

"You idiot!" Her voice came from Ichigo's closed closet. "I can't do this in their room!"

"W-What the hell are you doing in there?"

He opened the door angrily, and got a facefull of Rukia's shoe.

"Don't peek, you pervert!" She shouted, slamming the door shut.

"What the...?"

"Just messing with you." She opened the door again, and grinned at Ichigo. Her expression became more serious after that. "But this is weird, I can't get through to Soul Society."

"Uh, that's never good news. Have you heard from-"

They were interrupted by the sudden appearance of the numerous hollows, the reiatsu hitting them where they stood. They looked at each other for less than a heartbeat, and simultaneously jumped into action. Rukia gulped her soul candy and Ichigo hit his chest with his Shinigami Substitute License. He winced when he saw his body fall face first on the table.

"That's going to hurt later. How many times have I told you to be more careful with your body?"

"Shut up Rukia. Let's go!"

As they jumped through the window, they nearly bumped into a wall of red mist. It was running all along the street, and Ichigo noticed immediately that the town looked different than it usually did on the other side..

"What is this stuff?"

Ichigo reached with his hand to touch it, but Rukia grabbed him from behind and pulled.

"Wait Ichigo!"

The impulse threw Ichigo backwards and his legs forward. Some of his Shihakushō around his leg touched the wall and, after an almost visible shudder, it suddenly expanded, disappearing and revealing the part of the town it had engulfed, and ripping the part of the uniform that had gone through the dimensional barrier. Or to be more precise, separating it cleanly.

"You fool! You always jump straight into the middle of everything without even thinking. That's probably the same power Hisagi-san told us about!"

"What was that?" He pointed back with this thumb over his shoulder. "You tellin' me that's all that same weird dimensional thingaling?"

Rukia followed Ichigo's finger, and her expression changed to utter shock when she saw the mess of dimensional warps that covered the whole town.

Her reverie was short lived, as several hollows sensed them and rushed in for the kill. The fastest one was a flying hollow with two pairs of feathered wings and the body of a large cat, with two extremely large fangs protruding from its hideous white mask.

"Those are..."

"I know. Getsuga Tenshō!"

Ichigo raised his blade, and a crescent of blue energy shot from it as he slashed down. It cut through the hollow easily, but even before his reiatsu had finished dissipating the two halves became two bird-like hollows and a third one he didn't get to see before it disintegrated, and with a deafening screech, the two birds merged together back into a single four-winged hollow.

He had no time to even wonder what had happened in front of his eyes. The hollow launched itself claws first, and all he could do was block the attack with Zangetsu's generous blade. A flash caught the corner of his eye, and the hollow jumped back quickly, avoiding most of Rukia's attack and escaping with but a shallow wound on the neck.

"What the hell, that's new!" Ichigo complained, falling back one step.

"Yes. Be careful, it's probably still as sharp as those we've been fighting until now."

"What a pain."

There was a second screech, and a rather large hollow fell from the sky not five meters behind them, landing with an extremely loud thump on its oversized back legs. The eyes on its articulated mask peered here and there moving independently from one another, and the spikes on its back made a hollow rattling sound as they brushed against each other.

Several more reiatsus could be felt approaching.

"This can't be good, there's more coming." Ichigo mumbled, looking at the oversized frog up and down.

"We have to take care of them fast then." Rukia replied, moving to stand back to back with him.

"Let's go."

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"

Rukia's Zanpakutō released, turning into the pure white ice sword considered the most beautiful ice type Zanpakutō in all of soul society. Its ribbon danced in the wind as a cold wind enveloped them. Ichigo raised Zangetsu, placing it along his right arm.

"Bankai!"


	44. Chapter 44

"S-Shūhei...What... What's this?"

Isane and Hisagi had run through the Second Division's grounds following the Yellow Brick Road, as Hisagi had called it; the lone dimensional barrier reaching far from the centre of the Seireitei. At the end of it, a large opening had been carved in a mountain, with a shiny red mist barrier all over it, and the inside was revealed: A series of rooms and cells carved on the inside of the mountain, and hundreds of former Shinigami roaming around. They were pouring out of the compound, some running like crazy while others walked around in a daze, unsure of where to go or what to do. Some were looking at the barrier and even touching it, without apparently prompting the usual violent reaction, walking right through it without the dimensional space re-appearing.

"I have no idea, why are all these people loose?" Hisagi replied, just as confused.

"These people?"

"Yes." Hisagi pointed forward. "That's got to be the Maggots' Nest."

Isane's eyes went wide, in sudden understanding. But the question of _why_ it was happening remained unanswered.

They were spotted by some of the prisoners, and a sort of soft murmur started spreading, as more turned towards them. The hostility in the air was almost palpable, but as they were unarmed, Hisagi sealed his Zanpakutō and sheathed it.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Isane asked him.

"Don't worry." He replied calmly, his voice somewhat distant as he carefully eyed his opposition. "It's fine. We need to figure out what's going on with them."

A group of prisoners broke out from the herd and approached them slowly. They were making fairly ugly faces in an attempt to intimidate them, but Hisagi didn't seem impressed in the slightest. He took his Zanpakutō and handed it to Isane, then took a few steps forward in front of her. He had eight opponents. They made a semicircle around him when he stopped. Hisagi looked around carefully, and raised his guard, right arm held forward with the palm facing up, and left hand hovering an inch above his right elbow.

For the moment nobody made the first real move. The prisoners made a few feints, but Hisagi didn't move an inch. And like that, one of them screamed, and all eight charged towards the Shinigami. Hisagi rushed the fastest one, deflecting his attack easily with his bent right arm, and hitting him in the face afterwards as he extended it with a closed fist. His opponent reeled, and as he fell backwards, Hisagi spun to meet the next one with a foot to the face.

Hisagi didn't stop. Pushing the man he had just punched in the face to crash on another fast-approaching prisoner, he ran in the opposite direction, seeking yet another opponent. He approached fast and dove low, slipping easily under his guard, crashing the base of his right palm under the man's jaw, breaking it, and following by a double punch on the chest.

There were now four enemies on one side, and a lone one on the other. Judging it easiest, Hisagi let this last enemy grab him, then grabbed him back by the arm and shoulder and, with a nasty crack as the shoulder dislocated, sent him flying over his back towards the other four.

They were all sent crashing down in a mess of limbs and angry imprecations. When they stood up, they looked around and saw how four of their comrades had been knocked down in less time than they had taken four steps. Hisagi raised his guard again, and made a small gesture with his right hand, prompting his enemies to attack.

The looks they exchanged betrayed their hesitation. One of them took a step back. Another took two. In seconds, they had turned around and were running back, looking over their shoulders but with no fight left in them. And judging by what they were shouting, they were not happy at all.

"Good job." Isane said, smiling widely and offering Hisagi his Zanpakutō back.

"Thanks."

"They don't seem very talkative now though."

"That shouldn't be a problem." Hisagi smirked, tucking his Zanpakutō back under his sash.

They had only taken a few steps towards the prisoners when a large number of hollows appeared, seemingly winking into existence as the dimensional barrier wavered slightly. Hisagi and Isane immediately took a step back and readied themselves, but the hollows ignored them, walking towards the prisoners instead. There was some initial confusion, then the frenzy started. Like sharks going after chum in the water, the hollows rushed to the prisoners.

Isane put a hand to her mouth and looked away, closing her eyes and suppressing a gag. Hisagi didn't look away, and what he saw next was much more surprising.

"Isane, look!"

"Wha-?"

One by one, the hollows fell to the ground, convulsing and twisting, screaming in pain. Some of them disappeared, as if whatever was happening to them had been too much for their bodies to bear. The majority didn't. Slowly, they started turning into humanoid hollows. They took a progressively more human appearance, until they looked almost completely human. Some retained more hollow characteristics than others, be it a strange skin tone or some vestigial animal characteristic. Invariably, their masks crumbled, leaving only fragments over their all-too-human faces.

"Shūhei, are those arrancar?"

Hisagi surveyed the scene. Some of the humanoids had turned to the weaker ones, those who were not making it through the transformation, and much like the plain hollows had done before, they were devouring them. Judging by the fluctuations of their reiatsus, they were getting stronger that way. He examined them more carefully; their eyes, their lost gaze and erratic movements, all indicated a rather diminished intelligence. Nothing like the arrancar Aizen had created before.

"Seems like it. They look nothing like the Espada or the other Números made by Aizen, though." He looked at her very intently. "Isane, we have to warn the others. If the hollows could eat these people, they could do the same with real Shinigami."

"Sure, but how?"

"Can't you do it with kidō?"

"Kidō?" She thought for a few moments, looking at the dimensional barrier. "I'm not sure if I can get through that, but... I can give it a try. I'll try the Captains and Lieutenants."

Several of the arrancar had turned towards them, and had started approaching. Hisagi unsheathed and placed himself in front of Isane.

"I'll cover you."

The arrancar broke out to attack at the same time Hisagi moved forward, without straying too far from Isane. The reiatsu of the arrancar rose, and the first one to make it to them found itself at the receiving end of a rather nasty kidō.

"Bakudō sixty-two, Hundred Steps Fence!"

His attack hit perfectly, making the arrancar crash on the ground, and several others pounced on their defenceless pinned down comrade to eat him. Hisagi winced slightly at the grisly sight, but didn't have time to think any further. He dodged another attack, slashing up as he jumped back away from the arrancar, but inflicting a wound far weaker than he had expected.

_Hierro! These guys are strong._

Behind him, Isane was kneeling on the ground. She had drawn a jagged square pattern along her arms, as well as other markings on her arms and the palms of her hands and, placing her arms straight forward, she summoned a square of glowing blue energy.

"Black and white net. Twenty-two bridges, sixty-six crowns and belts..."

Elsewhere, Seree took a deep breath and looked at Nemu's face. The Lieutenant had passed out, but Seree could feel she was getting farther and farther away from danger. She was still amazed, healing open wounds and, worse still, severed limbs, was a very delicate procedure. The reason was that the internal structure of a body, living or spiritual, was complex and very intricate. It was organic, very irregular and very difficult to unravel, and that's why it was necessary to synchronize so well with the patient's soul.

Nemu's body was nothing like that. There was order, structure, and a mere fraction of the complications one would find on any other body when it came to healing. Seree had been worried at first that she couldn't synchronize with Nemu's own reiatsu very well, but it hadn't been necessary. She looked at the Lieutenant's pale face and was reminded of Yaso. It felt like Nemu didn't want anyone reaching inside. Seree kept her right hand over her patient's chest, with the soft green glow of healing kidō, and put her right hand on Nemu's cheek, smiling gently.

The red barrier over her head started trembling, and to her surprise several hollows fell from it.

"Where did they come from?"

She had less than a heartbeat to decide what to do. Nemu was still very weak, but she may be able to survive even if Seree stopped healing now. But if she didn't stop to fight, there would be no point if both of them died. They were only regular hollows, or so she hoped, vaguely humanoid of unusual large size.

Seree gritted her teeth, cursing under her breath. A hollow jumped at them behind her, so she fell on her back and, pivoting on her shoulders, made a kick up with both legs, crashing her feet on the hollow's chest. She made a flip and pointed straight up with her index finger.

"Hadō four, Pale Lightning!"

The hollow started crumbling before it fell down on her, and Seree clenched her fist satisfied.

_Yes! My low level kidō is enough, I can do this!_

Her self-congratulatory feeling was short lived, another hollow was standing over Nemu. It opened its huge mouth and Seree's heart skipped a beat.

_It's going to eat her!_

She met the bite with her own Zanpakutō, nearly crashing down on top of Nemu as her legs buckled under the weight. The blade embedded itself between the teeth of the hollow's upper jaw, and she had to put her right foot on the lower one to avoid getting chewed.

"Winter... Summer..."

She struggled under the weight. The hollow screamed, and the foul stench of its breath nearly broke her concentration. She caught a glimpse the hands of the hollow coming closer, and its face pressed down on her, bringing the back of her Zanpakutō nearly to her face.

"Bloom... unabashed..."

Her enemy pressed down harder, and she saw one gigantic hand out of the corner of her eye coming towards her.

"Yaezakura!"

A patch of frost appeared on her hair as the blade of her Zanpakutō changed upon release. She then pushed forward and slashed down with all her might, landing almost flat on the ground and barely avoiding the hollow's attack. As the hollow screamed in pain at its mask being nearly severed in half, Seree stood as fast as she could and made a huge vertical swipe with the back of her Zanpakutō, hitting the hollow under its chin. A second attack sliced through the frozen mask, and the hollow fell to the ground to die.

Seree tried to steady her heavy breathing. There were still three more hollows to fight.

On the Second Division's grounds, Isane was almost done with her spell. For an instant she was almost distracted by Hisagi's battle. He had taken down three of the arrancar, barely enough to make a difference. She had calculated there had to be at least fifty, and soon they would all be upon them. If there were even more inside that prison, they could easily find themselves at an impossible spot. Hisagi needed help. No, more precisely, Hisagi needed her to finish. He was fighting at a disadvantage because he had to stay between her and the arrancar.

_At least Shūhei was right, they aren't close to Aizen's arrancar._

"Form a circle and fly though the heavens." She placed her hands in front of the glowing square of energy. "Bakudō seventy-seven! Heavenly Rickshaws in Silken Air!"

The spell exploded into two dozen bolts of blue energy, extending all around her. She opened her eyes in surprise when she felt the kidō reaching in all directions far into the Rukongai. It was much farther than she had anticipated. She had thought it'd reach towards the strange barriers and break through them, but instead it was reaching towards the distance in all directions.

She gasped with sudden understanding. The dimensional rifts were not just creating little bubbles. What it was doing was connecting different points in space. That's why it felt like the captains had been teleported away, the barriers were merely creating a spatial connection between two far away places with some sort of dimensional distortion. Hisagi could break it, at least briefly, with his Zanpakutō, the captains probably could too.

For an instant she considered cancelling the spell and restarting it, preparing the distance properly and changing the message to make sure everyone got the information of what was going on. The Captains needed to know why they were all over the farthest corners of Soul Society.

There was no time. She'd have to modify it on the fly, a difficult task at best. She concentrated as the kidō reached farther and farther, taking all she had in her to keep it from collapsing. Sweat covered her brow. Then the first successful connection. Second. All the captains. All the Lieutenants except Hisagi and Nemu. She searched, Nemu appeared wounded or unconscious, but Seree was near. She'd do fine.

"Target. Acquired."


	45. Chapter 45

Matsumoto landed with some difficulty after the attack. Her left arm had nearly been torn off, and the gaping wound was bleeding profusely, blood pumping with the steady beat of a major vessel having been cut. An instant later, the head of the hollow fell next to her. She had her rescuer to thank for not having had her whole arm torn off, and as she stumbled she looked at the segmented blade of Zabimaru's shikai tear the newly formed hollow in half. Her legs finally failed, and she fell on her knees.

"Rangiku-san!" Orihime cried, rushing to her side. She hadn't even stopped when she called her powers. "Sōten Kisshun!"

Dutifully, Ayame and Shun'o shot up from her hairpins, and together created a barrier over Matsumoto's arm. The bleeding slowed down, then finally stopped, as Orihime concentrated.

"Rangiku, see if you can contact Soul Society, we need the limiters removed!" Renji called, finishing off the last hollow that had emerged from the successive mergers.

"Renji-san!" Orihime reprimanded him. "Rangiku-san can't..."

"It's okay." Matsumoto interrupted her with a forced voice, breathing hard. She searched her pocket with her free hand. "We don't have time to lose."

While Matsumoto struggled to use her phone and remain conscious as Orihime healed her, three more hollows flew up to the rooftop they occupied. Renji placed Zabimaru in front of his face, pointing down with the blade.

"Bankai! Hihiō Zabimaru!"

The sudden blast of reiatsu confused the hollows at first, and Renji didn't hesitate to use the opening. The great segmented snake shot through the air and grabbed one of the hollows in a powerful bite, and barely an instant later the reiatsu connecting its segments shot through with immense power.

"Hikōtsu Taihō!"

The reiatsu cannon blasted the hollow at point blank range, leaving nothing behind, not even a tiny fragment that could be used to create a new hollow.

"All right! That worked well."

There were several loud crashes, and the building trembled under their feet. Renji struggled to keep his balance, and Orihime fell on her butt with a rather girlish cry of pain.

"What's going on?" She asked, rubbing her backside.

"I have no idea!" Renji replied, annoyed.

Several screams answered her question. Hollows, climbing up the building towards them. The flying hollows took a dive, and Renji responded by making Zabimaru spin protectively around them. As a result of the wounds they received, they split again and merged back into one, a very large dog-like hollow with feathered wings.

"That's not right." Renji remarked. "Aren't these hollows supposed to be a mix of whatever gets merged together?"

The hollow howled loudly and turned towards them. As its red eyes shone more brightly, a small sphere of energy appeared in front of it, increasing its power relentlessly.

"Cero!"

Renji's warning was of little use; Matsumoto was in no condition to flee, and Orihime was still healing her. He firmed his grip on Zabimaru and jumped high, calling for the hollow's attention with such a string of profanity that he could have made an old-fashioned sailor blush. The hollow ignored him, concentrating on firing at the two women.

"Why you little..."

With an expert movement, Renji twirled Zabimaru and brought the jagged crests on its back crashing down on the hollow's back. It screamed in agony and in the impulse fired the cero upwards, missing Orihime and Matsumoto by mere inches. As the hollow got back on its legs painfully, Renji landed in front of it.

"I think it's time for you to split." He said, grinning.

The next move the hollow made was surprisingly nimble considering its condition. It disappeared from Orihime's sight, but Renji followed it easily enough. It didn't attack, it jumped back towards the edge of the building. As one of the climbing hollows appeared, the wolf-hollow bit it and started eating it.

Orihime looked away and Renji winced, but soon the hollow it had been eating split into two, and the two of them were dragged irresistibly towards the wolf. There was a hollow scream of pain, and a flash of light. When it subsided, the hollow had gained a pair of large horns and at least a meter in height.

"Well then, this is getting interesting." Renji smirked again. "Any luck Rangiku?"

"I can't get through." She replied.

"Keep trying! Let's go Zabimaru!"

Rukia and Ichigo were running as fast as _she_ could towards the Urahara shop. They had had to take a rather long detour to avoid one of the barriers separating them from the proper route. Rukia had tried jumping over it, but had to be rescued by Ichigo when things didn't go as planned. She felt incredibly dizzy when, as she went over it, she felt the world warping around her while everything under her eyes appeared to be static. It was like the world was bigger on top of the barrier than under it.

"I still think I can jump over that." Ichigo commented as they ran.

"Maybe, but let's hear what Urahara has to say before trying more things with this." She pointed at the barrier with her thumb.

"Right. Watch out!"

They jumped aside as a hollow pounced at them. Ichigo changed direction quickly and launched himself towards it. His strike was well controlled, and only immobilized the hollow.

"Hit it!" He called.

Rukia jumped next to them, and described a wide horizontal arc with Sode no Shirayuki, A white patch of ice appeared under their feet, and Ichigo jumped away.

"First dance, Tsukishiro!"

The hollow was completely encased in the giant column of ice shooting to the sky. As it shattered, it took the hollow with it, leaving nothing behind.

"What a pain these things are." Ichigo commented, annoyed.

"You're just jealous my Sode no Shirayuki works better than you." Rukia replied, smirking.

"Yeah, right."

_Bingo!_

They kept running until they finally reached the end of the barrier. Going around it felt almost as weird as jumping over it had felt for Rukia, but with solid ground under her feet it was much easier to run around it. When they reached the other side, they took a moment to get their bearings.

"What was that?" Ichigo asked Rukia, planting Zangetsu on the ground to balance himself.

"I told you it was weird."

The cry of hollows interrupted their rest. Ichigo looked up annoyed.

"Do they ever stop coming? Getsuga... Tenshō!"

He launched his attack horizontally, and the crescent of blue energy crashed on several of the hollows, instantly splitting them. Some disappeared as they disintegrated, while the others were suddenly and irresistibly pulled towards each other. The screams were terrifying as they merged back, and the resulting creature crashed on the ground in front of them. When it stood up again, it was at least eight meters tall. A long snake-like body with a human body at the end, four reptilian arms with clawed hands and a long narrow mask, reaching down half a meter below where its chin should be.

"What did you do Ichigo?" Rukia asked, looking at the hollow.

"Me? Give me a break!"

The hollow launched itself forward at incredible speed, and the two of them jumped in opposite directions, dodging the attack. As he stepped back, Ichigo slashed at the hollow, but the shallow wound barely did any damage, and was easily healed with high-speed regeneration.

"Woah."

"First dance, Tsukishiro!"

The pillar of ice met only empty air, as the hollow nimbly twisted itself out of the way. In the same move, Rukia had to push herself to the limit to avoid the counter the hollow had already launched, lashing at her with its tail.

"Tsk, what a pain. I'll get rid of it Rukia, go get Urahara."

"Don't be a fool, Ichigo, what's the point?"

"The point is that when we stop moving..." He started saying, before being interrupted. The air was filled with the screams of hollows rushing them. "…they show up." He finished.

"All the more reason." Rukia replied, placing herself behind Ichigo.

"Okay then." Ichigo raised Zangetsu. "Let's do this, before they get any stronger."

Back at the Urahara shop, or at the place where it used to be at least, Yoruichi was looking rather annoyed.

"Shunkō!"

She rushed towards the dimensional barrier and punched at it with all her might. The kidō flowing over her arm shot forward and punched a hole through it, and for a moment they could see dozens of barriers, like a row of different places connected in a way that couldn't be. It was dizzying.

It didn't take long before the hole closed again.

"Grargh!" Yoruichi grunted, annoyed.

"Yoruichi-saaaan, please stop that, it's not working!" Urahara called.

"Yaso is on the other side!"

She took a step back and prepared another attack, but before she could do it, Yaso walked out of the barrier. From the outside it looked like he had simply walked out of thin air.

"What on Earth are you guys doing?" He asked, bewildered.

"Yaso!" Yoruichi shouted, getting a surprised look from Yaso.

_Was that... relief?_

"Itou-san, welcome! I was wondering when you would show up again." Urahara greeted him, waving with his fan.

"Uh... why are you guys out here like that?" He asked again, still confused.

Yoruichi was looking at him with almost as much confusion as he was feeling, but Urahara was regarding him with a very fixed gaze over a satisfied grin.

"Itou-san." He pointed at the red mist barrier with the fan. "You just walked through that, right?"

"What?" Yaso looked back, then looked at Urahara, then back at the barrier. "Uh... I... Suppose?"

"Yaso, you have to find Katsutoshi!" Yoruichi suddenly snapped, swapping from surprise to practical matters with a mental click.

"He's here?" Yaso looked around, casually placing both hands on his katana.

"That's what we think. Those..." She pointed at the barrier. "… are his."

"Uh... Okay..." Confused. Uncertain. Either way, he didn't look like he was about to do anything any time soon. "But why are you out of the shop anyway?" He tried a third time.

He pointed with his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the shop. Everyone else looked that way, but their eyes didn't quite seem to line up in the proper direction.

_Well shit, I'm seeing things again aren't I? What the hell is real this time?_

***Thunk***

The familiar pulse didn't catch anyone unaware. It had been a while, but it seemed to show up whenever Yaso was going into mental overdrive. If not more often, Yoruichi thought.

"You can see through these..." Urahara mused out loud, then smiled. "Well, of course you would."

His musings stopped when a little Hell Butterfly fluttered out of the barrier. Yaso looked at it with only moderate surprise, Yoruichi looked at it wondering where it had come from. Urahara pondered why it could fly through the barrier like that.

_Ah well. Not entirely surprising, they guide Shinigami through dimensions._

The butterfly flew towards Yaso, and he instinctively raised his hand to offer it a place for landing. He looked at it for a few seconds, and Yoruichi realized he couldn't hear the recorded message.

"Here. Give me that Yaso."

She offered her hand, and when Yaso placed the butterfly near it, it fluttered on to Yoruichi's hand as if obeying a command. Her face looked serious as she listened, then her eyes opened wide in surprise.

"Yaso! It's Seree! She's in danger!"

Yaso looked at her, but his eyes were not really seeing. They had taken the lost look of confusion again, the eyes he had before this all started weeks ago.

"Itou-san." Urahara interrupted. He had walked all the way to stand next to him and he hadn't even noticed. "That is a Hell Butterfly. It can carry messages from Shinigami."

Yaso looked at him. Nothing.

"If Seree-chan is in danger, right now you are the only one who can save her." Urahara turned to look at the barrier. "We won't be able to take this down quickly enough."

Urahara turned to Yaso again, and this time his eyes had life behind them. Doubts still, but not just that.

"It's up to you to take this step, Itou-san. There's nothing else I can say to convince you."

Yaso looked at Yoruichi, then back at Urahara. He clenched his hands tightly.

_Screw it._

"Where?"

Yoruichi breathed in relief.

"Follow the butterfly." She said, raising her hand and letting it take off. "And be very careful, this will be dangerous and we won't be able to help for a while."

"Yes, sensei." Yaso grinned weakly.

Yoruichi smiled and slapped him on the back as he took off.

"You can do it!"

He disappeared inside the barrier. Yoruichi watched the spot where he had disappeared through for a few seconds, then turned to Urahara.

"How do we take this damn thing down, Kisuke?"


	46. Chapter 46

Seree listened carefully to the voice of her Lieutenant; it was the first time she had been contacted with that kidō, and it was lucky she had managed to defeat the weak hollows before it happened. She was so disoriented by the disembodied voice she had to close her eyes and stop moving around. She was sitting kneeling on the ground, still sore after the punch one of the hollows had landed on her, and the cut on her left shoulder another one had given her. She distractedly tightened the bandage around her shoulder as she listened, having done it on others so many times she didn't even have to think about how to do it anymore.

"That is the situation in the Second Division's grounds at the moment." Isane finished, after a long but precise explanation. "It is likely the invasion force will seek to swell their numbers with other Shinigami in a similar fashion. If anyone can reinforce our position, we would be grateful for the help."

Seree opened her eyes and looked around. Not that hollows ever needed a reason to eat other souls, but it explained why they had been so intent on trying to eat either her, and Nemu too, even in the middle of combat. She shuddered involuntarily. For now, she better heal the Lieutenant.

She sheathed her Zanpakutō, and not three steps later she felt something appearing behind her. Turning immediately, she was surprised by what she saw. A hollow, or a human perhaps. She had not seen an arrancar before, and so it took her a few moments to realize what it was. He was ghostly pale, half his face covered by a half-smiling plain mask, which looked more like an accessory for a masquerade than a hollow's mask. He had an extremely narrow face, red eyes, and long hair falling past his shoulders. The completely white clothes looked almost like a Shinigami's uniform, and he had both a belt tying them around his waist and a sash over it holding a pitch black katana.

She placed her hand casually on her Zanpakutō's hilt.

"Well, well, look who's here. I thought the strong Shinigami that was trapped in this space was in no condition to fight back." He glanced at Nemu, then turned to Seree again. His red eyes were almost hypnotic, Seree felt her breath and her heartbeat accelerating while under their spell. "Now I see what was keeping them. What a small world this is."

Seree didn't speak, but he talked as if he was answering a question.

"Daruma is my name. And I already know yours, Miyanaga Seree."

She swallowed hard, still not speaking. Her hand tightened around the hilt of her sword when she noticed she was starting to tremble. There was something deeply disturbing about that man. Hollow. Whatever he was.

"I told Katsutoshi you were irrelevant." He turned and looked up to the barrier, speaking in a musing tone. "He did more damage running like an idiot after you than if he had just stayed put. How utterly foolish. Ah well."

He turned to Seree, and she felt a chill run up her spine when he smiled. It was an almost imperceptible smile, but felt like he was looking at her like a cat licking its lips before jumping at a mouse. For an instant his eyes strayed and landed on Nemu, and before she knew it her feet had moved her in front of the Lieutenant with a shunpo.

As they looked at each other, her Hell Butterfly fluttered down and landed on her head again. Her thoughts were racing at a hundred miles per second, she had no idea what she was going to do, but there was one thing she was sure of: There was no way she could beat that man.

It all happened much faster than she had anticipated. Daruma appeared in front of her in an instant with an incredibly fast sonido, and as she tried to draw, she felt crushed by the immense reiatsu he suddenly unleashed. As she fell to the ground, the last two things she did was try to cover Nemu with her own body, and ending her thoughts with a single word.

_Yaso..._

She didn't know how long ago that had been. When she came to, she was tied down with kidō. A strong chain of yellow energy she identified as Bakudō sixty-three, Locking Bondage Stripes. Struggling, she managed to look around. She didn't recognize where she was, she was face down on some grass covered soft soil, and the landscape was different. It felt as if there were countless barriers converging at a point some distance away. She also found Nemu laying on the ground. Still unconscious, or so she hoped, she couldn't tell if she was alive or not. And as if directing everything, arms high with palms facing upwards, was someone she recognized.

"Katsutoshi." She said softly, suppressing a gasp.

There was a small reaction. After a few seconds he lowered his arms, and turned around, smiling.

"Well well, little present, yer finally awake."

When Isane finished her communication spell, she felt absolutely drained. Modifying it on the fly to reach farther than she had anticipated at first was difficult, but altering the message on top of that had been beyond exhausting. She breathed hard while sweat ran profusely down her face.

_I have to get up._

Her legs responded well, even though she was out of breath. Catching her move over the corner of his eye, Hisagi took a step back and used shunpo to get next to her.

"Are you okay Isane?"

"Yes. Just..." She puffed, taking a deep breath. "… need a moment."

"That's fine. Are we getting any help?"

"No idea. I couldn't... Keep it up... Long enough..."

"Ah well." Hisagi said, looking at her and smiling. "We'll have to manage by ourselves." He turned to the arrancar and raised his guard. "You better get back."

"But..." She looked at Hisagi with wide eyes, although too tired to articulate her protest.

"Until you rest enough."

Isane looked at the advancing arrancar and, not saying another word, pulled back with a shunpo.

_Shūhei will have more room now, he's right. Just a few more minutes..._

As she surveyed the battlefield her eyes stopped at one particular arrancar. Unlike the rather erratic, almost animal movements of the rest, he looked calm and collected, observing the battle without intervening directly. She had been too busy to see everything, but she decided to keep an eye on him while she rested.

"Bakudō sixty-two, Hundred Steps Fence!"

Hisagi threw the spear of kidō and, as it divided into a hundred spears of pale blue light, the arrancar jumped out of the way. He didn't hit a single one of them, but he didn't seem to care. Choosing a target, he moved with blindingly fast shunpo to intercept it as it jumped out of the kidō's way. Hisagi's first stroke caught him completely unprepared, slicing down his back and inflicting a great wound. The arrancar countered with a spin and a punch, hitting nothing but thin air as the Shinigami dove under it and, with a fluid move, pushed forward and sliced the arrancar's chest open. Hisagi quickly jumped out of the way as more enemies arrived.

_I have to keep moving. Sheesh how many of them are there?_

Isane sighed in relief when Hisagi jumped out of the way after downing his opponent, avoiding the other arrancar and giving them a wide berth. Not having to keep them away from her, he was moving with much more freedom, and keeping out of the way without difficulty.

_Why was I worried. Shūhei knows how to fight a superior force, keep moving and force one on one confrontations._

She looked at the arrancar. There were still way too many of them.

_He won't be able to keep this up forever. I better help him soon._

At that moment she noticed the arrancar that had first caught her attention moving towards the agonizing one Hisagi had just taken down. The rest of them were giving him some space, not getting any closer. Without a second's hesitation, he jumped at the wounded arrancar, and a white glow enveloped them. Isane thought she had seen him chewing something, and when the glow receded, the arrancar was looking even more human than before. The mask had been reduced to a crescent of bone going along the side of his face, and the eyes looked more human, more intelligent. And his body was also turning more human, his hands still looked more like claws than hands, but they were getting shorter, more in accordance with proper human proportions.

_He's getting stronger! We better take him before he..._

Her thoughts were interrupted by a large surge of reiatsu. There seemed to be no point of origin, and judging by the reactions of the hollows and of Hisagi, she wasn't the only one feeling it. The dimensional barriers seemed to tremble and waver somewhat noticeably, and a few seconds later she caught a soft tremor of the ground.

_Oh no!_

"Shūhei! That's the big barrier! Someone's trying to break through!"

"I know!" Hisagi shouted. "We have to get there!"

Isane's head started churning at full speed. The big barrier was what they had called the barrier erected by the Kidō Corps around the deepest level of the Underground Prison, Muken.

The current residence of former Fifth Division's Captain, Aizen Sōsuke .

That was on top of the already impressive security measures that were in effect in that place, but extra measures had been taken following advice from Suì-Fēng and Shihōin Yoruichi. It had been felt through the whole of Soul Society when it was being erected, and now it could be felt as it was being attacked. There was no way anyone would be able to break it.

A new surge of reiatsu made her legs wobble for a moment.

_Maybe it won't be so impossible._

Seree was looking at Katsutoshi with wide and scared eyes. She was completely helpless, and she couldn't think of a single way to escape. Not even to have a chance at escape.

There was a sudden surge of reiatsu, and the barriers all around them wavered for a moment. Katsutoshi looked up at them, concentrating for a few seconds, then smirked and shook his head.

"Man, I cain't believe it, they's put a barrier 'round the prison."

There was an even stronger surge a second time. Katsutoshi, again, shook his head.

"This's gonna take a while." He took a few steps away from Seree, and grabbed the sword that was embedded on the ground. It had a bright red blade, and the barriers surrounding them seemed to be emanating from it. "I guess I better getcha outta the way." He turned to Seree, and her blood froze in her veins.

_Someone. Please. Someone help me!_

She wanted to shout, but she couldn't. She could barely breathe. The reiatsu coming from that Zanpakutō was crushing enough, but she could feel the kidō tightening around her too.

Katsutoshi stood in front of her and raised his Zanpakutō. She looked up, and he smiled when he saw her expression of terror. It changed to surprise when she saw a small Hell Butterfly fluttering over Katsutoshi's head. The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps followed it close, muffled by the soft soil they were standing on. Katsutoshi turned quickly, and managed to parry a vicious slash of a katana. Pressure relieved in part, Seree found her voice at that moment.

"Yaso!"


	47. Chapter 47

"Rukia!"

The wounded snake hollow slithered out of the way towards one of the other attackers. Before Rukia could reach, the snake hollow grabbed the one she was targeting and, with a huge bite, ripped its head off. The body transformed into another hollow, but even before they could see its shape it had been absorbed into the giant snake's own body.

There was such a difference that neither Rukia nor Ichigo thought of it as "merging" anymore.

"Tsk, back to square one." Ichigo complained.

He looked around. The rest of the hollows were keeping a deceptive distance, several of them had proven to be rather fast and capable of attacking if they left an opening. But above all, they all looked rather afraid of being too close to the large snake hollow Ichigo was fighting.

"There's too many of them." Rukia remarked, landing next to Ichigo. "I can't keep them from healing it."

"Yeah, no matter how many times I cut it, I can't finish it off if those hollows are still around. Tsk, this is taking forever, and they aren't even that strong."

"Ichigo." Rukia interrupted him, taking a step forward. "Let's swap."

"What? This thing's the only strong one, Rukia."

"Who do you think you're talking to?" She responded, annoyed.

After the initial surprise, Ichigo looked at the large snake hollow for a few moments and nodded.

"Okay, what's the plan?"

"Use Zangetsu's speed to keep the rest of the hollows away." She replied calmly. "I'll chip away at this thing."

Ichigo looked at the giant snake, thinking. He had been able to take it on with little difficulty at first, but it proved to be stupidly resilient. Whenever he inflicted a large wound, either it managed to heal it with high-speed regeneration, or another hollow distracted him before being eaten by the giant snake, recovering completely. A few times a hollow had "un-merged" from the main body after his attacks, it felt like they were fighting a Matryoshka doll of hollows.

"Be careful."

"Ichigo, I t-"

"I don't mean that!" He interrupted. "Remember what's happened every time we almost had it."

Rukia looked back, at Ichigo and, behind him, at the large mysterious red mist barrier. Twice they had almost destroyed the hollow, only for it to be engulfed by a barrier, together with other hollows, and to re-emerge alone and recovered.

"Yes. But after those two large pulses of reiatsu, it hasn't changed one bit."

"_If_ who's making them is this Katsutoshi dude, you think he's doing something else now?"

"Who knows." She raised her guard, as the hollow appeared to have recovered completely. Sode no Shirayuki's ribbon danced in the breeze as she eyed her opposition. "We'll worry about that later."

"Let's go!"

The hollow screamed and charged forward, slithering over the pavement at unbelievable speed. Rukia Jumped forward with all her power, whizzing past the hollow's attack and inflicting a huge wound as she passed with Sode no Shirayuki's blade. Without even stopping, she turned and jumped backwards, raising her left hand with palm forward.

"Hadō thirty-one, Red Fire Cannon!"

The spell crashed on the wound before it had managed to regenerate completely, and as the hollow screamed in pain, it started trashing about. She caught a glimpse of Ichigo moving behind her at great speed, and the familiar pulse of a hollow's reiatsu disappearing as it is killed. The scream she expected from the surviving hollows merging again didn't happen, instead it was Ichigo's voice.

"Getsuga Tenshō!"

That was all the time Rukia was allowing herself to follow Ichigo's movements. He was much faster than she was, nothing to worry about. She landed and quickly made a slash with her Zanpakutō.

"First Dance, Tsukishiro!"

She jumped back as the attack took form, and the snake hollow twisted out of the way as the column of ice materialized. Without missing a beat, Rukia pointed forward with one finger at her opponent, which had placed itself exactly where she wanted it, between the column of ice and herself.

"Bakudō nine, Strike!"

The red light surrounded the body of the hollow. It was too strong to be contained by that spell, but as it slowed down, struggling to free itself, Rukia followed with another.

"Bakudō four, Crawling Rope!"

As the spell winded itself around the snake, slowing it down even more, she planted her Zanpakutō on the ground and pointed at the hollow, holding her right wrist with her left hand.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!"

_What the heck is Rukia doing? The whole point is to use her Zanpakutō's ice._

Ichigo pushed forward with all his speed, slashing down a flying hollow and, without waiting to see the next merger, disappeared in opposite direction, slashing a second one that was trying to craw towards Rukia unnoticed.

"Getshuga Tenshō!"

His attack hit the flying hollow he had left behind with perfect accuracy, and using the same move he cut the survivors of the merged hollow he had just taken down. He didn't have time to take a break, even more hollows were approaching, spurred by the sorry state of Rukia's enemy. He couldn't quite tell if they came to help directly, or to extract retribution and eat it back. Neither of those options was good for them.

"On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens. Hadō seventy-three, Twin Lotus Blue Fire, Crash Down!"

Rukia's fully incanted spell shot from her fingers moments before the hollow freed itself completely from its restrains. The resulting explosion sent her foe tumbling down, missing one of its four arms and with a gaping wound in its side.

As it tumbled down, Rukia grabbed her Zanpakutō again and, stabbing four times on the ground in front of her, she pointed the blade at her enemy.

"Next Dance, Hakuren!"

The hollow recovered its position and, without apparent hesitation, let out a roar and a moment later a cero. Both attacks clashed, neither yielding an inch. Rukia allowed herself a moment to track Ichigo's movements as he appeared behind the hollow. He let a second hollow past him as it rushed towards the giant snake, and Rukia noticed he was wearing his Hollow mask.

"Getsuga... Tenshō!"

The black Getsuga sliced the hollow he had let pas in half, and crashed on the back of the giant snake. It screamed in pain, letting the cero disappear and freezing under Rukia's attack. The main human part of the body managed to avoid most of it, but the rest of the snake body was shattered into a million tiny pieces, disappearing as it turned into spirit particles.

As if it had been the sign for a race to start, a dozen merged hollows took their chance to jump towards the wounded snake.

"Ichigo!"

"I know!"

His moves had been so fast all the strikes looked nearly simultaneous. Not a single one of the merged hollows had escaped, and as the bodies split into individual ones, they coalesced into a single spot once more.

"Not again. Getsuga..."

"Next Dance..." Rukia echoed.

"Tenshō!"

"Hakuren!"

Ichigo's attack crashed on the mess of partially merged hollows a moment before Rukia's own encased most of them into ice. Ichigo continued pressing while Rukia took a step back, satisfied, to recover her breath after the flurry of attacks.

She froze in place when she felt a sudden surge of reiatsu behind her. As she turned, she caught a glimpse of the hollow she had been fighting standing up, and something akin to a snake head turning into spirit particles behind it. It had only three arms left, but now appeared to be a large human, legs and all. It had discarded one of the hollows it had merged with, as they always did when mortally wounded.

_I was careless! Not... Enough... Time..._

"Shunkō!"

Barely three steps from Rukia, the hollow was split in half and into six individual hollows when Yoruichi's kidō crashed on top of it with a thunderous roar. They didn't have time to merge before she crushed them completely with a flurry of counters.

"Y-Yoruichi-san!"

"Yo." She smirked. "I was getting bored of waiting for you guys to show up!"

Rukia felt her legs give a bit, but stayed upright. Behind her, Ichigo seemed to be finishing his job rather well.

_That was close!_

"Yer not supposed to give your back to the enemy, you know." She looked down at Rukia, rather good humouredly.

"I know! Well... That's... I mean..." She stammered, embarrassed.

"Yoruichi-san."

"Yo Ichigo. What have you guys been up to? I felt you two coming towards us, then you started playing around here."

"We ran into some trouble." He answered, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder. "What's going on here?"

"Seems like Katsutoshi's made his move." She responded, furrowing her brow.

"What? All that crap is his?" Ichigo asked surprised, looking at all the barriers covering Karakura town.

"Yeah. Not sure about the hollows though."

"What do you mean? Aren't these the hollows he was sending all over a couple of weeks ago?"

"Dunno if it was him though, Kisuke thinks it's not likely."

"Hmmm. Where's Urahara-san?" Ichigo asked, looking around.

"He's trying to find where Katsutoshi is." She pointed at the nearest barrier. "He's hiding inside one of those."

"You don't sound too worried."

"That's Kisuke we're talking about. Besides..."

The three of them suddenly stopped talking, as they felt something at the same time.

"That's..." Ichigo started saying.

"...Renji!" Rukia finished.

"Follow me!" Yoruichi ordered, pushing ahead without hesitation.

Renji put his left hand on the new wound in his chest. It hurt like hell, but he had managed to avoid a lethal hit. He concentrated and tried to slow down the bleeding with his reiatsu, cursing inwardly. He was not that good with kidō, but that at least he could manage, he had been cut enough times to learn it.

"Hm, you're still alive."

He looked up at the arrancar. White clothes, white face, white mask. The only thing that had any colour was his black sword, and it was black everywhere, up to the blade. He cursed under his breath again as he looked at Zabimaru. It was back down to Shikai, too hard to keep Bankai going.

_Damn limiter!_

It wasn't just the limiter. Or the surprise attack his opponent had started the fight with. Even with that, he would have had a good chance at beating him. No, it was the damn barrier. It had shown up at the same time that arrancar had, engulfing most of his giant Bankai before he could make a counter. It was the strangest thing he had ever felt, like someone had pulled the pieces physically away from him. He had recovered it when he shattered the barrier by trying to reconnect the segments with his reiatsu, but it kept coming back, getting in the way.

Leaving Orihime and Matsumoto behind, he had moved the battle away from them. And jumping over one of those barriers sure had been quite a weird experience by itself.

_I hope Rangiku can handle that hollow I left there. Heh, she's probably in better shape than I am._

"Of course, alive is one thing, being able to fight back is another." He looked up, as if he was trying to sense something. "Hm, more interference. What a pain."

"Howl, Zabimaru!"

Daruma jumped back, narrowly managing to avoid Renji's attack with just a small cut on his clothes.

"You've got guts pal, looking away in the middle of our fight."

"Our fight is already decided. I have no more interest in you."

"Really? And here I was thinking we had just found ourselves a nice quiet spot to settle things." Renji spoke calmly, reassembling his Zanpakutō.

"My only interest is to stop you people from interfering with my hollows."

"_Your_ hollows?" Renji asked, giving Daruma a flat look. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Surely you must have noticed, haven't you? These hollows acting strange..." He smiled. "That is, of course, my doing."

"Right. And who the hell are you anyway?" Renji asked, noticing a good chance to recover his breath by getting his opponent to monologue a bit.

"I already told you, didn't I? Minauro Daruma, loyal servant to Aizen-sama. The third product of his quest to merge the powers of Shinigami and Hollows."

"Third... You were an Espada?"

"Ah, you know of the Espada. That came after my time, you see. I was born decades earlier, from a lowly hollow with a special ability that caught Aizen-sama's eye. My... _ancestor, _shall we say, was like a little hollow parasite, it could merge with and split from other hollows, and combine abilities like that. Just as you have seen."

"That sounds like that bastard Aarniero." Renji commented.

"Nothing so unrefined, I assure you. As you have seen, my ancestor _used_ the hollows it merged with, more than _eating _them. Their minds and even bodies were preserved. Aizen-sama considered it was a possible solution to the instability of his previous attempts at Shinigami hollowification."

"And the result..."

"Is as you see." He raised his arms, basking in his own glory, or something. "A successful arrancar, with further enhanced abilities from those of his hollow ancestor. Ah, those were good times."

_If he gets any more annoying I'm going for it, or I'll fall asleep._

"I always thought his idea of creating a few extraordinary arrancar was misguided. A large but versatile army would have served him better. Well, perhaps now he will come to agree with my way of thinking."

Renji had heard enough. With renewed energy, he suddenly stood up and launched an attack.

"Howl, Zabimaru!"

The arrancar dodged easily, which made Renji grin. With a twist of the hilt, the extending blade of his Zanpakutō bent sharply and chased after the arrancar, shooting past him and leaving a deep cut in his upper left arm.

"Attacking suddenly?"

"What, you thought I was actually interested in what _you_ had to say?" Renji smirked.


	48. Chapter 48

"Hadō thirty-one, Red Fire Cannon!"

Hisagi aimed his kidō at the middle of the mob of arrancar, and they scattered in all directions as they tried to avoid the explosion. Fighting against superior numbers was never easy, but individually the arrancar weren't enough of a threat to him. A handful of them broke out from the group as they all scattered, and turned to chase after Hisagi.

With a very slight grin, he jumped back as fast as his shunpo would carry him. A second voice called out.

"Hadō sixty-three, Thunder Roar Sear!"

Instead of Hisagi, the arrancar got a facefull of kidō, and the massive wave of yellow energy took four of them down.

They had stopped worrying about finishing the arrancar off. As soon as they were down, dead or wounded, the rest of the arrancar would take care of finishing them off. The fact that they would get stronger by eating their comrades could make it more difficult to fight them wasn't worrying either of them at that point. Even if difficult for them, none were at a point where they'd be a problem for the Captains, and that was all that mattered.

Isane caught a particular arrancar moving towards the four they had just taken down.

"Shūhei!"

"I know!"

Hisahi appeared right above the arrancar as it bent down to devour his first comrade. They made eye contact as Hisagi made a sweeping slice down with his sealed Zanpakutō, but he only hit thin air. He turned towards the rest of the group, and saw the arrancar smiling at him, holding the agonizing victim with one hand.

_Isane's right, that guy's getting a bit too strong._

He was still not much different from the rest, they all looked like humans with a variable degree of paleness, and broken down white hollow masks. Other than the shape of the mask remains, they were difficult to distinguish, basically wearing the same clothes the inhabitants of the Maggots' Nest they came from were.

But the eyes of that arrancar were looking a lot more lively. His hollow mask was like a skull face, down to the upper jaw, covering most of his face except the mouth and the chin.

"Think we should go after him?" Isane asked, appearing next to Hisagi with shunpo.

"I don't think we should just yet, there's too many of them to target just one. And he's good at keeping his distance."

The arrancar started eating his prey, and it was just a few moments later that they felt a strange surge of reiatsu. It appeared to be coming from that arrancar. The rest of his comrades appeared rather confused at first, then, as the pressure mounted, they looked more frightened than confused. It wasn't long before they were falling to the ground, cowering in fear.

"What's going on?" Isane cried out, putting her left arm in front of her face to shield it from the wind.

"I don't know, but this can't be good!" Hisagi replied.

As even more pressure fell on them, the arrancar started to contort in pain, screaming in agony. One by one they acquired a soft glow as their spirit particles destabilized, and slowly they were dragged towards one spot.

"He's eating all of them?"

"Crap. Isane!" Hisagi cried out, raising his right hand and pointing at the arrancar with two fingers. "Let's hit him!"

"Right!" She raised her right hand too, pointing forward with the palm.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens." Hisagi chanted, as blue energy concentrated in front of his hand.

"Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle!" Isane echoed, summoning a ball of yellow energy instead.

The reiatsu around the arrancar kept thickening, and collapsed into a glowing white sphere of energy, which appeared to be able to simply engulf the rest of the army as they were irresistibly dragged to it.

"Hadō seventy-three, Lotus Blue Fire, Crash Down!" Hisagi cried out, firing a double beam of blue energy.

"Hadō sixty-three, Thunder Roar Sear!" Isane countered, firing her own wave of yellow kidō energy.

The spells crashed on the sphere of energy and the resulting explosion of all three sources combined nearly knocked them off their feet. Isane put her head down and covered it with her arms, and Hisagi put his left arm over his face, barely peeking over it at the intense glow.

When the whole thing subsided, the two Shinigami breathed in relief, but their respite was short lived, as the reiatsu appeared again. Stronger, and much more focused. As the dust and smoke dissipated, the figure of the lone surviving arrancar could be made.

His outward appearance had changed. Still wearing the same light coloured prisoner clothes, barefoot. Normal, perhaps somewhat pale, skin. And as for the hollow mask, it appeared to be growing directly over his bone. His face looked as if his nose and all the flesh under it to his chin had been torn off, and the bone had outgrown from there. No lips, just the two holes where the nose should be, and two rows of teeth on a naked mouth. And in his hand he was holding a sword.

"Shūhei..."

"I'll go." Hisagi responded, distant, while examining his opponent carefully. "Watch my back."

"Okay." Isane responded, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Be careful."

Hisagi felt some of his strength returning, and the green glow of healing kidō caught his eye. Isane was giving him a parting gift. If there was only so much she could do quickly in terms of healing, the feeling she was putting into it was more important.

_Lately it's been feeling very different when Isane heals me._

Finally, Isane gave him a small squeeze on the shoulder, and took a few steps back. Hisagi smiled only inwardly, on the outside he was still keeping a very close eye on the arrancar, who hadn't moved a muscle. There was no sense of urgency anymore, there were no other enemies it could eat to get stronger, and the barriers seemed to have stopped moving and changing.

Hisagi had the distinct feeling the events were merely dallying at the verge of something.

"You have a name?" Hisagi asked.

"Gundan." The arrancar replied simply. His voice was somewhat strange, a deep tone but hard to follow vocalization.

_Must be the lack of lips._

"Hisagi Shūhei, Lieutenant of the 9th division." He replied, raising his guard with his Zanpakutō held firmly.

"Shinigami..."

Hisagi thought Gundan had grinned, though it was hard to tell as most of his mouth didn't have any way of changing expression. Without any more conversation, the arrancar suddenly disappeared.

_Sonido!_

Hisagi managed to deflect the thrust the arrancar had thrown at him, and the follow-up slice it attempted by diving under it.

_Fast!_

He threw a low thrust at the arrancar, then quickly followed with an upwards slice as his enemy tried to jump out of the way. Their swords clashed, and they were pushed away from each other. As Hisagi skidded to a stop, he felt a familiar spike of reiatsu behind him and, narrowing his gaze at the arrancar, jumped away with shunpo.

"Hadō thirty-one, Red Fire Cannon!"

Isane's kidō shot the second Hisagi stepped away, and flew straight to the arrancar. The resulting explosion didn't hit the arrancar, but making it move fast to get out of the way, it have Hisagi a small opening to attack. He feinted a slash and, when the swords clashed, he used his momentum to slide under and give the arrancar a kick on the stomach.

"Hadō four, Pale Lightning!"

The arrancar's sonido was enough to avoid Isane's second attack. Instead of chasing Hisagi, he went after Isane, appearing in front of her and slicing down with a powerful strike. Isane dodged at the last second, unsheathing and then blocking the second attack. She kept running backwards as the arrancar pressed harder. She hoped Hisagi noticed quickly what she was doing.

"Bakudō sixty-two, Hundred Steps Fence!"

Isane blocked the arrancar's sword and, pushing him with her leg on his chest, jumped away as Hisagi's kidō rained down. She watched as Hisagi fell down towards the arrancar, pinned down with a dozen rods of kidō. She was expecting Hisagi to take the arrancar down. Instead, his reiatsu suddenly climbed even higher, shattering the kidō, and throwing Hisagi away when he blocked the arrancar's sword attack.

"Shūhei!"

He skidded to a stop, unharmed. Isane breathed in relief. The instant she was distracted proved to be a mistake, when Gundan appeared right behind her with an even faster sonido. She turned slowly, trying to dodge out of the way and bring her sword about. It wasn't enough, his attack sliced through the back of her shoulder, hitting the shoulderblade bone with a rather disagreeable snap.

The world spun out of control, and gravity did the rest. She crashed face down and couldn't even stand up, or try. The follow-up from the hollow didn't happen, it was blocked by Hisagi before it could harm her.

"Isane!"

A weak moan was all the answer she could give. Hisagi looked at her out of the corner of his eye, the wound appeared deep and was bleeding profusely, but the flow was regular, no major blood vessels were hit.

That was all the attention he could give. Gundan pressed harder, blade against blade, and suddenly pushed up, deflectin gHisagi's sword and aiming a blow at his midsection. Hisagi responded well, lowering his sword fast to block the attack, holding the blade in place with both arms. He did the exact same movement the arrancar had done, and feinted the same follow-up attack, only to do a sweep with his left leg and, pivoting over it when Gundan jumped, giving him a roundhouse kick that sent him flying back a good ten meters.

Without losing sight of his opponent, he quickly knelt down next to Isane. When he put his hand on her shoulder, she moaned loudly.

"You're awake." The relief in his voice was obvious.

"Shūhei..."

"Can you stop the bleeding?" Hisagi asked, examining the wound. _Shit, that's a really deep cut, he even cut through the bone._

"I... Uh..."

Hisagi took a piece of clean cloth from his inside pocket and placed it on the wound, prompting more moans of pain from Isane. After that he took the Lieutenant badge from his arm and used the wrap to tightly bind the cloth on Isane's back.

"Better? The pressure will help." He took his Zanpakutō and stood up. "Don't die on me now."

"I'll be... fine..." Isane struggled to answer.

Gundan looked at them with empty eyes. It was as if he wasn't even looking at them, he was listening. Listening to what, Hisagi didn't know.

"Yes... Kill the Shinigami..." He finally said, as if answering a question.

Hisagi looked back at Isane, then at the arrancar, and finally looked down at his Zanpakutō. First of all, he wanted to drag that damnable arrancar away from Isane.

And for that, the best way was to take the initiative.

He jumped forward with a fast shunpo, and his attack, a straightforward down slash, was easily parried by Gundan, but that was all he could do. Hisagi kept pushing hard and they moved several meters back. Finally Hisagi pulled back suddenly and tried a thrust to the chest. When Gundan blocked and pushed his sword down, Hisagi levered on it and attempted to kick him on the face. Gundan blocked with his left hand, and had to move back to narrowly avoid Hisagi's slash, taking advantage that his enemy was then holding his sword with only one hand to overpower his block.

_He's annoyingly fast._

They both stopped and regarded each other with scrutinizing looks. Hisagi was thinking that his enemy didn't seem to be particularly easy to read. Maybe it was because he knew he was the result of several merged entities, but whenever their swords clashed, he had the feeling Gundan had his head filled with way too many voices to have any distinctive thoughts. It felt like he was fighting someone without a sense of self, just instinct and dangerous moves.

Which made him hard to read. And very dangerous. That was why Hisagi didn't understand what he was thinking when he suddenly smiled. He disappeared with sonido, and to Hisagi's surprise, he rushed straight past him.

_Isane!_

He tried to chase, but he wouldn't make it on time. Too slow.

Only one thing to do.

"Reap, Kazeshini!"


	49. Chapter 49

Seree looked at Yaso and Katsutoshi pushing against each other's swords, while the hell butterfly slowly fluttered down and landed on her head. She didn't notice, her eyes were fixed on them. After a few seconds, Katsutoshi suddenly let go and disappeared with shunpo, appearing a few meters away.

"The hell ya came from?" He asked Yaso, bewildered.

"From over there." He responded, pointing somewhere over his left shoulder with his thumb. His grin made it clear he knew that wasn't the answer Katsutoshi wanted. "Oi Seree, we have to stop making a habit of this kind of thing."

She was quite surprised by the comment, then started blushing noticeably. She was halfway between annoyed and relieved. Finally, she settled for ignoring it.

"Can you..." She struggled under the binding spell. "Get me out of this..."

Yaso turned to look at Seree, and at that moment Katsutoshi lunged forward with the fastest shunpo he could manage. He was exceedingly surprised when Yaso reacted well to his attack, he leaned back to dodge and made a swipe at his arm, forcing Katsutoshi to pull back awkwardly. Two steps back he regained his footing and, for the second time, used shunpo to try and catch Yaso unprepared.

He didn't have any more luck than before. He appeared on Yaso's left side, but his attack was countered, with a somewhat forced posture that made Yaso take a whole step back at the same time he deflected Katsutoshi's red Zanpakutō. They exchanged another two attacks before Katsutoshi jumped back.

He was looking even angrier.

"Since when... You..."

"Hm? You've forgotten how to speak whole phrases now?" Yaso asked calmly.

Katsutoshi ground his teeth as his rage increased. He jumped forward again with shunpo, and again Yaso deflected his attack. He pushed harder a second time. Same result. He tried a double step with a feint and then an attack, and Yaso still managed to parry and counter. And on his next one, he just concentrated so hard on moving fast that he never saw Yaso extending his left leg as he passed, tripping him with an almost electrical zap as their legs clashed and the reiatsu Katsutoshi was using to move dissipated.

_That... That's what he did with Abarai-san! Way to go Yaso!_

Yaso didn't stop there, he pivoted and slashed down, and managed to nick Katsutoshi's arm slightly. As soon as he had spun and gotten up, he used shunpo to put distance between the two of them. When he touched his left shoulder and saw there was blood, he couldn't hold back any longer.

"When the hell didya learn ta fight shunpo?"

"Shunpo. Oh right."

***Thunk***

Seree thought the pulse had felt particularly painful that time. Yaso seemed fine though, so she didn't worry too much.

"The thing is, I don't have a clue how that is done. However." Yaso grinned. "Compared to Yoruichi-sensei, your moves are pathetic. So are mine really."

"Yo..." Katsutoshi opened his eyes wide. "Shihōin Yoruichi? _That_ Yoruichi?"

"Hm? You know her?"

"_Know _her? Yer a clueless moron! _Know_ her! She and Urahara Kisuke, and... Ye ain't got a clue, have ya? Ye ain't got a clue 'bout them or Aizen, or Soul Society, have ya?"

Yaso blinked in surprise. Katsutoshi was positively rambling at that point. Know about them? Well, not really, not much anyway, it wasn't his business. It still wasn't, that is, he was there for Seree.

He remembered Urahara's words before he left.

_There's nothing else I can say to convince you, he said. What am I looking for anyway?_

Seree wondered what was going through Yaso's head. He had given her a quick sideways glance, and he looked like he was working his head hard. She wanted to say something encouraging, but she was afraid of saying the wrong thing again. It felt like stepping through a mine field.

_Stupid girl, you're making it worse than it is, just say something encouraging!_

While Yaso worked his head, Katsutoshi had been murmuring something. Seree recognized the increasing reiatsu. Kidō.

"Watch out Yaso!"

"Hadō thirty-three, Blue Fire, Crash Down!"

The large bolt of blue energy engulfed Yaso, and the crackling sound of kidō being dissipated was extremely loud. From the cloud of dust, Yaso rushed forward and, unsheathing and attacking in one move, nearly catching Katsutoshi by surprise.

Seree sighed in relief.

_That was a lot stronger than anything I've tried before, I was so worried there for a second!_

Katsutoshi blocked the first attack Yaso had tried, a low slice aimed at the waist. He pushed Yaso's blade back easily, but had been so distracted by it that he didn't see the saya coming until it had smacked him on the face.

_The saya works too? It must be made of the same spiritual material of the sword, way to go Urahara-san!_

Yaso's arms were crossed over his chest at that point, so he made a quick double slash with the katana and the saya to regain a more natural posture. Katsutoshi couldn't avoid both, and got another shallow cut across his belly as he jumped back.

_He's being pushed around, Yaso you can do it! I want to help dammit!_

Seree struggled but couldn't free herself.

"What's the problem?" Yaso asked, looking at Katsutoshi's bewildered face.

"What the hell are ya?"

"Hey, if you figure out the answer to that, let me know." Yaso answered, sheathing his sword and assuming a ready stance again.

Instead of attacking, Katsutoshi raised his Zanpakutō, holding it in a reverse grip pointing down. The air around it seemed to distort, and a red mist barrier shot from it. Seree gasped as Yaso disappeared from her sight. An instant later he emerged again, rushing towards Katsutoshi. It was a very strange sight, it looked as if part of him just appeared from thin air, then the part started expanding as he moved forward.

He was halfway through when Katsutoshi broke the barrier, making all space reappear in an instant. And even though he had seen him repeatedly surviving kidō and walking through his barriers, he was still startled to see him completely unharmed when the dimensional pocket collapsed.

He didn't even lose his footing.

Yaso unsheathed much earlier than Katsutoshi had anticipated. He was still holding his red Zanpakutō in a reverse grip, but he could fight that way too. He quickly regained proper posture and made a defensive swipe towards Yaso, slicing up in a wide arc. Instead of dodging, Yaso hit the back of his Zanpakutō with his sword's saya to force it out of the way as quickly as possible, and with the right hand lunged at Katsutoshi. He looked like a matador moving to slay a bull.

The Shinigami dodged narrowly, ducking just enough for the blade to pass next to his head. Due to the movement, their sword arms ended up interlocked, and as they both pushed with all their might, they stopped as their arms yanked each of them nearly off their feet. A moment later, Katsutoshi changed his Zanpakutō to his left hand, and Yaso quickly pulled back, slicing wildly. Their blades hit each other awkwardly, and as they stepped away to get some distance, Yaso noticed Katsutoshi looking at his sword very fixedly.

Yaso looked down. There was a tiny chip on the blade. He didn't give it a second thought, that kind of thing happened all the time when real blades clashed.

_What's so interesting about this?_

Katsutoshi smiled. Timidly at first, then more widely, as he smiled, he appeared to be supressing a laugh, until he couldn't hold it anymore. He was laughing very heartily.

"What on Earth?" Yaso asked.

It was several seconds before Katsutoshi regained his composure.

"I'm such an idiot!" He laughed. "Yer not a Shinigami, that ain't a Zanpakutō! Man, this's hilarious!"

Yaso raised an eyebrow, somewhat confused.

"What's so funny?"

"Aaaah, ye ain't got a clue." He smiled. "I've been fightin' so long I hasn't noticed. Ya see, when Shinigami and hollows and whatuver spirits fight, it all works on reiatsu. Who has more o'it wins. Ye ain't got no reiatsu I can feel, but none o'my kidō works."

Yaso didn't answer, he was having a hard time following what Katsutoshi was trying to say.

"That's only happening when someone's got more reiatsu. But you ain't a Shinigami. I don't know what's happen to ya, but that..." He pointed at Yaso's blade. "That ain't a Zanpakutō. Or it wouldn't be chippin' like that."

"O... kay."

"Ya still ain't followin'. What that means is..."

Katsutoshi suddenly disappeared with a fast shunpo, but merely did a straightforward full power attack on Yaso, who parried with some difficulty.

"… All I gots to do is crush ya with brute force!"

Yaso didn't feel the sudden surge of reiatsu coming from Katsutoshi, but Seree found her breath taken away for a moment. It was strong, and very strange, it fluctuated as if there were two sources instead of one. Katsutoshi kept pushing forward, then took a sudden step back and made a powerful low sweep at Yaso, forcing him to jump back. They looked at each other for a moment, and Yaso slowly sheathed his sword again.

"Ya're always doin' that, ain't ya?" Katsutoshi smirked maliciously. "What'll happen if I don't let ya?"

Yaso nearly managed to give Katsutoshi a new face when the latter charged almost recklessly. He avoided so narrowly he almost got a new haircut. But soon Yaso was starting to be at a disadvantage. He was holding the saya with one hand and the katana with the other, and Katsutoshi was raining a series of blows so fast Yaso could only think of the next one. Deflect a high blow, try to counter and then deflect again, holding the sword with one hand didn't give him enough leverage. Finally Yaso tried a sweep with the saya after a short lunge and, letting go of it with the same move, he placed both hands firmly on the tsuka. On the next attack, he forced Katsutoshi's blow away with an upwards move, and gave him a new shallow cut with the downwards move across the chest.

_He avoided it again, even when going crazy like that. He's got damn good reflexes._

"The fact that I prefer iaidō doesn't mean it's the only thing I can do." Yaso said.

Katsutoshi was still smiling.

_Guess that didn't hurt him. What's he planning anyway?_

Yaso moved his left foot forward and placed his katana low on his right side, pointing down and with the left hand loose at the end of the tsuka. A ready stance for a one-sweep counter. As if accepting the invitation, Katsutoshi pushed forward straight at him with shunpo. His attack was so reckless Yaso made a simple downwards sweep and hit him on the left shoulder. Deeper cut this time, Katsutoshi had only slowed slightly to avoid a fatal hit, and seemingly without worrying about it, he made a powerful lunge at Yaso.

He was too committed to be able to dodge. As quickly as he could, he raised his katana to block.

There was a sudden cracking sound with a metallic ring to it, and Yaso felt something hit him hard on the chest.

He couldn't comprehend at first why Katsutoshi was so close to him. He then looked down, and saw the hilt of the Zanpakutō near his chest, and the blade going through it. It would still be a few seconds before the adrenalin would let down and he'd feel it. The blade had run him through on the right side of the sternum. The blade of his sword was broken about four inches from the base.

Seree felt the blood leave her face, and her heart beating fast, incredibly fast as an icy hand grasped it tightly. Twice she tried to speak, and only when Ktasutoshi pulled his blade out and pushed Yaso back she managed to say something.

"YASOOOOOOOOO!"

She yelled until her lungs were completely empty, and even then she wanted to keep shouting, and felt she was going to choke when Yaso hit the ground with a mute thump.

Katsutoshi made a swipe with his sword to get the blood out of it, and slowly walked towards Seree. His shoulder hurt like hell, but it'd be easy enough to heal. He felt like an idiot for having taken so long to realize how to beat that man. He was just a human, after all.

_Ah well, one thing out of the way._

Yaso was feeling very strange. He had fallen to the ground with the certainty of his own death in his mind, but there was less pain than he had imagined. His mind was foggy, he had heard about having one's life flashing before one's eyes when dying, but he had imagined it to be a sort of recap of their life. It felt instead like he was going backwards.

Yoruichi telling him to be careful.

_I'm sorry sensei._

Urahara. Telling him that he had to find answers for himself. He had found them all right, his imminent death sure felt real at that point. He didn't have the energy to try and discern truth from telling him there was power inside him.

_Fat lot of good it's done to me._

***Thunk***

There was a pulse again. Seree and Katsutoshi noticed it, but more strangely, Yaso noticed it too.

_What was that?_

_**I don't want to disappear...**_

He could swear he had heard a small voice after that pulse of... Pain, perhaps, it was the only way he could describe it. His mind felt clearer, even through his trip back through his memories.

Training under the Urahara shop. Shunpo. He had never quite understood how it worked. Zanpakutō. The way of the Samurai, somehow. The Shinigami. Kurosaki Ichigo.

_Substitute Shinigami, got his powers under the shop too. What a weird place. The soul has to be in danger. Souls. Right._

***Thunk***

Another pulse. He felt it more weakly. The voice followed again, but fainter, more distant.

_**I don't want to...**_

He was out of time, he though. He was only a small child now, both his parents were alive. His father's voice.

"No suffering shall befall you." He had said.

It was the explanation for his name. Yaso: Eight-Ten. Like his name skipped nine, nine which sounds like the word for "suffering", so should suffering skip him. That had been his parents' wish, which he carried with him in his name.

_**Please...**_

That small voice. Yaso felt his mind sharper, and the excruciating pain in his chest. Slowly, he struggled to stand, first turning to lay on his belly, then slowly raising to his knees. He felt the world spinning, he could barely keep his balance, and there was blood all over him. He didn't have much time.

_It's going to work._

He struggled twice to get his left hand in his pocket. There it was. He placed the soul candy in his mouth, and rose to his feet, his broken sword held in his right.

Katsutoshi saw Seree's face change suddenly, and turned aorund. Yaso was standing, just barely, and when their eyes met he weakly raised his right hand, pointing at him with his broken sword.

_It's going to work._

"Whatcha doing? Still alive?" Katsutoshi grinned. "Just barely I see." He turned to Seree, then to Yaso. "Well then, watch closely girlie."

"Yaso..." Seree said in a whisper. She wanted him to run, to save himself, but it was plain obvious he couldn't even take a single step. She struggled hard under the restrains.

_I can save him. I can heal him! _

"Stupid kidō LET ME OUT TO HEAL HIM!"

Katsutoshi looked at her through the corner of his eye and smiled. Without second thought, he rushed forward and lunged at Yaso.

_It's going to work!_

Yaso gulped. For a moment he almost chocked again, but he gulped again firmly, repeating over and over to himself that it was going to work.

It was the strangest feeling of his life. There was a distinct feeling of _dropping_ something, and his body slowly fell forward, as a chain connecting him from his chest to it started to extend.

It had worked.

_I can't... beathe..._

Free from the agonizing body, his thoughts were suddenly clear. He didn't understand why he had to breathe if he was a soul, but there it was. He couldn't breathe. He had to dodge.

_Dodge dammit. Move. Move!_

He pushed back at the last second, and as he avoided Katsutoshi's attack by pulling back sideways, he screamed in pain when the Zanpakutō cut through his chain of fate mere millimetres from his chest.

Katsutoshi skidded to a stop a few meters past Yaso and looked at him with wide, surprised eyes.

"What the hell are ya doing?"

Yaso had fallen to one knee, putting a hand on his chest and feeling the broken chain. It hurt more than he imagined would. As he searched, he noticed there was just a small splinter of a link left. He was breathing hard, which made him forget about the pain for a moment.

_Wait, I can breathe now. Good. What now?_

He looked up at Katsutoshi, who was walking towards him. As he raised his Zanpakutō, he felt his heart accelerating. He was too focused to notice the strange feeling of having a heart when he was a soul.

_What now? What do I do now? Shit, what now?_

The word started to lose its colour. Everything slowed down as it happened, and as Katsutoshi started his attack, the whole world appeared to almost stand still, a perfect still image in black and white. And then, there was only black.


	50. Chapter 50

When Yaso came to, he was laying down on a field. The first thing he saw was the stormy sky; it was dark, and rather unpleasant to look at too. He sat up and looked around. It was an endless field, soft hills covered with clover.

"Where on earth am I?"

He remembered immediately. The fight, his sword breaking, taking the soul candy pill. He put his hand to his face and shook his head.

"What was I thinking... Well, I guess this answers whether there's an afterlife or not." He looked around, then to the ominous sky. "Still, it's a bit bleak. Does it rain on this side too?"

He stood up and searched the horizon. Nothing, just the cloverfield. He started walking in a random direction, trying to find someone or something. Bored, he looked at the clover as he walked by. Maybe he'd find a four-leaf one. There were clover leaves of all sizes, some of them bigger than his hand. Very strange.

After some time, he couldn't tell how long in that strange afterlife, he thought he heard something. It was hard to tell.

"Is that someone crying?"

He spent some minutes trying to find the direction the sound was coming from. It was very faint, but there was nothing he could find. He looked down around the area where the sound seemed to be coming from. More clover, green clover all over the place.

Except one. A red clover. The only difference in the whole field. He bent down to examine it, and to his surprise the sound of crying was a bit louder. It was coming from under it.

He carefully parted the leaves. Hugging the stem was an insect, Looked like a dragonfly. Yaso knelt down and looked closely. He realized it had dragonfly-like wings, but seemed to be like a tiny person. Wearing a bright blue metallic armor, just like an insect's carapace. It was hard to make all the minute details, it was barely the size of his thumb.

And the crying was definitely from it.

"I don't want to disappear..."

"What the?" He asked startled.

The insect suddenly turned its head towards him, and for a moment their gazes met. It wasn't an insect. It was definitely a person. Wearing a round helmet with the same metallic blue, with two round arches converging in a sort of peak over... His? Her? Forehead, down to the nose. He could see hair too.

He was surprised, but the tiny insect person was positively dumbstruck. She? Looked like a she after closer examination. She wasn't crying anymore, just looking at Yaso, wide eyes and mouth hanging open. At that moment, the Sun broke through the clouds ever so briefly, bathing the small area around them in warm light.

"Yaso?" She offered timidly.

"Uh... yes?"

_She knows who I am?_

She suddenly took a sharp breath in and, extending her wings, took flight at incredible speed, shooting past Yaso's head. Her voice was a bit louder as she spoke from behind him.

"It's … It's really you! You've come in! You're here!"

Yaso turned and looked at the tiny dragonfly. He was surprised to see she was bigger now, maybe the size of his hand. He could make the details better, the large arches of the helmet were made to imitate the big eyes of a dragonfly, or rather it was the opposite, parts of the helmet were missing as if the large eyes should be attached on top, like an unfinished costume. Her black hair was visible under those arches, and she was definitely wearing an armor that imitated a blue dragonfly, with horizontal stripes along the legs to imitate the segments too. The most amazing thing was the wings. And just like a dragonfly, she was flying but perfectly still at one spot.

"Where am I? And who are you?"

"I can't believe you did it!" She sounded so happy. "I was sure we were done for, you... You took that pill, you finally let it work, you..." She looked suddenly afraid, looking up at the sky and concentrating. "We don't have much time."

"I... Okay, I did all that, yes. How do you know? Where am I? And who..."

"Where are you? This is your inner world! You made it!"

"Uh... I'm not dead then? To be honest, I had no idea how this is all supposed to work."

"No, time's slowed down for you."

"Slowe down? How?"

"You have experienced this before. When fighting, remember?"

"Oh..."

He had had that feeling of time slowing down before, usually when pushing himself during combat training or sparring. But this was completely different.

"I daresay we don't have much of it before that _Katsutoshi _finishes you."She practically spat out the name.

"Okay..." Yaso looked around.

"Don't say it!"

"Huh?" He looked at the little fairy again, and he wondered if she had shrunk a little. "Say what?"

"Are you going to deny me again? You're always doing that!" She sounded very, very angry. Even though she was so tiny, Yaso failed to find it amusing, somehow he was feeling he had really done something bad. "I'm part of you! I was born to protect you! And every time you denied me! Every time!"

The fairy flew past his face again, fuming. Yaso didn't look back, he was wearing an expression of shock as understanding slowly crept in.

_There's power inside me, just like Urahara said. Who else could she be?_

"Do you have any idea how terrible that was? I couldn't heal! I couldn't make you hear me! And every time you denied me, every time I protected you while you denied me, every time I showed you the truth that you refused to see, every time I grew a bit smaller, a bit weaker, I was sure I was going to disappear!"

Tears in her voice. Yaso looked down at the clover leaves in front of him. Every word of it true.

_Shit, what have I been doing for the last two years?_

"You were born to protect me..." He said, softly.

"Yes. I don't know why. I just know I was awaken inside your soul when you woke up wounded. I have been part of you since, never able to talk to you, but I had only one thing in my heart..."

"Not to let suffering befall me." Yaso finished for her.

"Yes."

For a few moments neither said anything, until the silence was broken by some distant thunder.

"I'm such an idiot. I did all this to you, and now I'm here just trying to save myself."

"Yaso."

The voice was in front of him. He looked up, and saw the little dragonfly had grown to maybe half a meter tall.

"Can you trust me?" She asked.

Yaso smiled slightly.

"That's not the real question, is it? The real question is if _you_ can trust me." He looked down at the ground again. "I have wished you away ever since that day. All I saw was strange things and just wanted it all to go away, I couldn't accept any of it. After all that, can you really trust me?"

"Of course I can!"

Yaso looked up. She was about a meter tall now, like a child, with her wings folded back and flush against her body, long enough to reach her feet.

"I'm part of you! How couldn't I trust you? You came in here, you found me!" She smiled. "Of course I'll trust you! And I'll protect you! But..." She looked at him worriedly. "Can you trust me?"

Yaso was surprised at first. Then he smiled. A wide, wide smile. She was giving him another chance. Without even thinking, he reached out and embraced the small girl. At first she was surprised, caught completely unaware, then she closed her eyes and smiled, a happy smile of a young child.

"I'll trust you with my life." Yaso finally said.

The sound of thunder sounded closer. Yaso let go and looked up. There was a storm brewing in his inner world.

"We're out of time, Yaso. Your time. It's about to speed up again."

He looked at the fairy, and saw she was holding a sword almost as long as she was tall, with a green saya and tsuka, a tsuba in three parts and shaped as a clover, and under the green braid of the tsuka he could see an ornament, a dragonfly.

"Is that you?"

"Yes." She nodded. "We have to go, wield me."

Yaso placed his hand on the hilt, grasping it gently.

"Your name?"

The dragonfly girl smiled.


	51. Chapter 51

"Are all Shinigami as pig-headed as you are? Is that how you advanced through the ranks to become a Lieutenant?"

Daruma looked at Renji. He was down on one knee, tying up his Zanpakutō to his right hand using the wrap of his Lieutenant badge. He pulled the knot tight with his teeth and his left hand, and painfully stood up. Half of his clothes had been torn off, and his wounds were close to the limit of what he could take.

_Stupid damn limiter!_

"Truth to be told..." The arrancar looked at the two wounds Renji had given him. "I was expecting a bit more from a Lieutenant of the Gotei 13. I suppose the effects of Aizen-sama's war on the Shinigami was felt through the ranks. There is clearly a shortage of qualified officers."

Renji suddenly made a swipe with Zabimaru, which Daruma seemed to be expecting. He jumped aside using sonido, and Renji continued his attack, extending Zabimaru even more. A few seconds later he had made a full circle, raising his Zanpakutō over his head, then another, gaining momentum and turning it into a whirlwind.

"Blah, blah, blah, will you shut up already. I'm starting to get sick of listening to your voice, and Aizen-sama this, and Aizen-sama that, and I had this for breakfast. Just shut up already!"

When Renji finally made another attack, Daruma dodged by jumping high, but Zabimaru had so much momentum it ripped right through the pavement, creating a shower of dust and debris of considerable size.

Daruma saw through the mist how Renji had made a wild swing, overshooting high, but then Zabimaru started coming down towards him. He dodged easily, in fact the attack didn't seem powerful enough to reach him.

_Hmp, how foolish._

"Hadō thirty-one, Red Fire Cannon!"

The voice came from behind him, and really, _really_ close. He turned in time to see the glow of the kidō forming not one meter from his face. He didn't have time to make another move, before he could focus his reiatsu for sonido the spell was released and a sizeable explosion ensued.

Renji was so close he got some of it, but Daruma got hit full on the face. It took both of them a few seconds to stand up again, dragging themselves up with various degrees of difficulty. Half of Daruma's mask had been cracked, and much of the white flesh underneath was looking rather scarred, with burns going down to his belly and upper arms.

He was breathing hard, and looked rather unhappy, to say the least. Renji took a few steps and picked up Zabimaru again.

"You..." Daruma struggled to speak. "I can't believe you let go of your Zanpakutō. You went through all the trouble of tying it to your hand... And doing such a flashy spinning move..."

"Yeah." Renji smirked. "And you fell into it face first."

Daruma ground his teeth together angrily. Renji could barely stand, but the cocky smirk on his face was making the arrancar absolutely furious.

_That... That damn Shinigami!_

He raised one hand and concentrated, and his reiatsu started climbing. A few seconds later a few portals opened, and hollows started pouring out.

"Tsk. You're still underestimating me, aren't you? I'm a freaking Lieutenant of the Gotei 13! You think these lowly hollows can take me?"

"You are the one underestimating me... _Shinigami._"

There was venom in Daruma's voice as he called Renji a Shinigami. As his reiatsu became more focused, it became visible, thin glowing yellow threads reaching from his fingertips towards the hollows. They screamed in pain as the threads touched them, and moments later they started to be pushed towards each other. The screams increased in intensity as the hollows merged, one after another, until there were only four of them left. Renji didn't even have time to go over all the grotesque details from the merger. They all had some form of wings or another, multiple limbs... He settled for mentally labelling them by the most horrid prominent feature. Fanged lizard, monkey (_why is there always a damn monkey in all these mix-ups!_), blood-sucking bug (_ewww_), and something else.

_That's... Ugh... An armoured rat or something? Straight from the museum of horrors, sheesh._

"You were saying, Shinigami?"

"I was saying..." Renji raised his Zanpakutō, pointing it at Daruma. "You speak too damn much!"

Zabimaru shot straight ahead, and Daruma zipped out of the way with sonido. With a flick, Renji made it change direction and, taking a sharp bend, it continued extending, rushing the armored rat. The impact was easily deflected by the scaled carapace of the rat, but the deflection took it straight towards the arrancar again. He dodged more narrowly this second time, and just as the Zanpakutō shot past him, it crushed the face of the giant monkey.

The familiar screams of the hollows splitting and merging again greeted his ears.

_It was much easier when they just died after we sliced them. What a pain in the butt._

It was hard slog for him, destrying every hollow component one by one. Without waiting, he pulled hard and made Zabimaru spin around to try and keep him safe. It seemed to work well, until he noticed something above him.

The bug. It hadn't moved with reiatsu, it had simply flapped its wings and was falling towards him. He had Zabimaru doing a wide sweep around hit, it'd be impossible to bring it around on time.

_Shit._

"Next Dance, Hakuren!"

Music to Renji's ears, and his expression made it clear. The wave of ice shot above his head, freezing the hollow completely. He took the extra few moments to pull Zabimaru back and get out of the way before the ice collapsed, shattering into a thousand pieces and destroying the hollow completely.

"Renji! Are you okay?" Rukia called.

"Yeah. No problem. Good of you to join us!"

The scream of a second hollow followed almost immediately, as Ichigo rushed forward with his oversized Zanpakutō and split the monkey, or what was left of it, in half. At the same time the rat exploded, for lack of a better word, when a series of blows crushed it and every hollow that tried to split from the rest of the body. The final one was when Yoruichi crushed the face of the last hollow with her kidō covered foot.

"Look at you." Rukia scolded him. "Were you getting your butt kicked?"

"What's that? Look at him." Renji pointed at Daruma, who had taken a few extra safety steps and was looking at the new arrivals with a distrustful eye. "You telling me I look worse than him? Besides, it ain't easy fighting with the freaking limiter on!"

"Limiter?" Rukia asked, all innocence.

"What the... You're a Lieutenant now, don't tell me you didn't notice the limiter."

Crickets chirping. Gears turning inside Rukia's head. A vein pulsed on Renji's forehead until, with an expression of sudden understanding, Rukia mouthed a wordless "oh".

"That! Captain Ukitake put in some paperwork so I didn't have to have one. I think Nii-sama may have put a word in too." She answered, still smiling innocently.

For a few moments, they just looked at each other.

"You have to be kidding me! That's blatant favouritism!" Renji yelled, angry. "How come I've never heard of that? And the Captain never let me come without the damn limiter either! What the hell! I'll-"

"Renji." Rukia interrupted.

"What?"

"Stop complaining." She answered, giving him a flat look.

"Why you..."

"Limiters are necessary, or damage from uncontrolled reiatsu could be dangerous to normal souls." She said, adopting the pose of a teacher lecturing a student.

"But you don't have one!"

"Stop complaining."

"…"

"Shihōin Yoruichi." Daruma said calmly, ignoring the others. "I have to say, it is somewhat disappointing to see Katsutoshi didn't trap you like he promised he could. I presume the red tint on the dimensional rifts are Urahara Kisuke's doing?"

"Of course. Did you really think you could get us out of the way that easily?" She grinned.

"It was a possibility. Naturally, no plan ever survives contact with the enemy. As it stands, I shall get you out of the way myself."

"Oh really. You and what army?"

"Ah yes, the army. I concede Aizen was correct when he identified the need of a few powerful individuals for his own."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Yoruichi responded.

"As you will. However, the advantages of a versatile numerous army are greater. In this particular situation..." He unsheathed his sword. "Perhaps another option will be more indicated." He let go of his sword, but it didn't fall. Thin yellow threads of reiatsu held it in place, hovering just under his hand. "Move... Marioneta!"

There was a blast, Daruma's reiatsu suddenly surged as he released his resurrección. Yoruichi placed her right arm over her face to protect her eyes from the wind, while a yellow light bathed everything. Then it disappeared, it left behind Daruma's new form. He... _It_ would be a more accurate description. It looked like a massive ten feet metallic statue, dark in colour with a rough, irregular surface. Still humanoid, more like a suit of armor, but surprisingly plain. No spikes, no adornments.

There was a rather disagreeable rattling sound as Daruma twisted his body side to side, getting reacquainted with his body.

"So that's your resurrección. What can it do?" Yoruichi asked, unimpressed.

"Perhaps..." His voice came out dull, reverberating with a metallic echo. "Perhaps you would like to find out?"

Yoruichi smirked. She concentrated, and her reiatsu started to materialize around her arms. Soon it was intense enough to cover her completely as she created her favourite form of hand-to-hand combat kidō .

"Shunkō!"

She disappeared as her shunpo carried her at a speed few could ever hope to match. She appeared in front of Daruma before he had a chance to even blink, if he still could blink under that form, and her powerful kick on the chest area sent fragments of the armor flying everywhere. There were cracking and metal scraping sounds as the armour realigned itself, ending up a tiny bit smaller but in identical condition. Despite having taken such a powerful kick, Daruma had only moved a couple of steps back.

_He's heavy!_

His sluggish counter was easily dodged by the god of flash. She moved under his arm, and with an upper thrust of her right fist, sent even more pieces flying. Again, the armour realigned itself.

"Man, she's gonna kick his ass if that's all he can do." Renji remarked.

"Don't feel bad, Renji." Rukia answered.

"Why the hell would I?"

Rukia gave him a flat look again, and a vein throbbed on Renji's forehead.

"If he had taken that form from the start I'd have moped the floor with him! Look at him, he can barely move!"

"No reaction from Rukia, with a look between boredom and disappointment.

"You know..." Ichigo interrupted them. "Renji's right."

"Why the hell do you sound so surprised?" Renji shouted.

"What's your problem now?"

"Oi, you two, stop it, now's not the time."

They both looked at Rukia.

"But you started it!"

"Renji. Stop complaining."

"..."

"What I meant is that it seems rather foolish to take that form against Yoruichi." Ichigo said, interrupting.

"So?" Renji asked.

"So, if he knows about Yoruichi he should've known it was a bad idea."

"Um." Rukia looked at the combatants, thinking. "You think he's planning something?"

"Probably."

"Well, I'm sure she has realized that too." Renji answered

Yoruichi stopped her relentless attack for a moment. There were pieces of armour strewn all around her, and her opponent had, literally, thinned quite noticeably. She furrowed her brow as she spoke.

"You have anything else in there? Because this isn't going to get you anywhere."

"_In here_ is not quite what I had in mind."

Daruma raised his arms, with his hands opened wide and palms facing down. The expected pose from a puppeteer. As he moved his fingers, Yoruichi caught the sound of metallic tinkling. She looked around, and noticed the pieces of the armor were starting to move. Almost at once, the pieces converged into big piles, and with perfectly regular, almost clockwork movements, they started arranging themselves.

It was barely a second before Yoruichi was surrounded by a dozen metallic puppets, with grotesque humanoid shapes. They seemed to shake as if they were about to fall down or split into pieces again.

"Hm, I see."

"I hope you do, for your own good."

When Daruma moved his fingers again, the puppets attacked Yoruichi, at a speed she had not expected. The god of flash managed to dodge the attacks and, after confusing her enemies with a decoy double image, she took one of the puppets from behind with an explosively powerful punch of Shunkō.

The pieces hadn't moved ten inches before they started rearranging themselves once more, again in the form of a humanoid, but with its hands around Yoruichi's arm.

For a moment Yoruichi was surprised, not just for the change, but also by the effect. As soon as the puppet touched her, she felt completely glued to it. It took her a few moments to realize it had stuck to her reiatsu, and had to blow everything she could over her arm to snap the near-invisible threads of reiatsu that had taken hold of her Shunkō.

Not a moment too soon. At first it looked like several of the puppets had run her through with their slender, sharp metal shrapnel arms, but the image was then gone, leaving behind her hair ribbon fluttering down through the air.

"Way of the Onmitsu, Utsusemi." She said softly from a safe distance.

"Your reputation is well earned." Daruma said. "But do you believe it will be enough to defeat us?"

"I wonder." She answered, smirking.


	52. Chapter 52

Isane didn't move a muscle as Kazeshini's blade passed mere inches from her head. She watched in the slow motion of battle hyper-awareness as the spinning blade cut though the arrancar – Gundan, technically more than one arrancar merged down into one body – and listened to the tinkling of the chain of Hisagi's Zanpakutō trailing behind.

_Shūhei's Zanpakutō looks so scary._

Her eyes met Hisagi's, and in that moment a wordless understanding passed between them. Isane bent down forward quickly, which sent the world spinning in her head due to her deep injury, and Hisagi pulled at the chain. The blade retracted just as fast as it had come, and cut through the arrancar a second time.

Her time sped up again, as the arrancar screamed in pain.

"Isane!"

"I'm fine!" She called out, standing up as best she could with an uneasy step. She avoided making any effort with her right arm, letting it just hang loose, and took a few cautious steps away from their enemy.

The arrancar was contorting on the ground. A white material bubbled up from his wounds, closing them up, and the blood he had spilled morphed into the shape of a hollow, only to dissolve into spirit particles a moment later. Hisagi continued his attack and made a second sweep with Kazeshini, but the arrancar dodged with sonido, appearing a short distance away.

He looked completely healed.

"That's a bit disappointing." Hisagi said. He had moved closer to Isane, but still keeping enough distance not to give the arrancar a single target.

"That was one of the hollows that merged together..." Isane said, with a slightly forced voice.

"Hows the shoulder?" Hisagi looked at her only for a moment, not wanting to lose sight of Gundan.

"I stopped the bleeding, but..." She looked down at her Zanpakutō. "I'm sorry Shūhei, I don't think I can use my Zanpakutō like this."

"It's fine."

"I can still fight!" She said almost immediately, interrupting Hisagi.

He looked at her for a second time.

"We're going to have to defeat him..." Hisagi started.

"Fifty-three more times." Isane finished for him.

"Do we have fifty-three tricks?"

"I'm not sure. We may have to improvise."

Hisagi kept Gundan in his field of vision as he looked at Isane. She mouthed one word, making Hisagi nod and disappear with shunpo, while she started an incantation. He appeared right above the arrancar, and swung down at him with one of Kazeshini's blades.

Gundan responded fast, blocking and then pushing his attack away. As Hisagi was pushed back, he attacked with the second blade, throwing it forward towards the incoming Gundan. Again, he dodged, lunging at the Shinigami with his sword. With a flick, Hisagi made the chain of Kazeshini form a loop and wrapped it around the sword arm of his enemy, forcing it away with a disagreeable cracking noise. He used the leverage and the opening to swing at him, but at that moment the arrancar opened his mouth, and a red ball of energy appeared in front of his face.

_Cero!_

Hisagi managed to dodge most of it, but had lost his form completely and got some minor wounds on his right arm and shoulder, and some of his uniform was ripped away. He barely managed to block the subsequent attack of the arrancar after he switched sword hands, and they both crashed on the ground.

Suddenly, a yellow chain of kidō shot from the ground, wrapping itself around the arrancar.

"Bakudō four, Crawling Rope!"

Isane had finished the incantation and, placing her left hand on the ground, had shot the spell through the ground, catching the arrancar completely unaware. Hisagi rolled up and, pulling hard at the chain of Kazeshini, brought the arrancar to striking distance, slicing through him and through Isane's spell with one mighty swing.

Gundan screamed in pain with a dozen voices at once. Isane winced.

_If we have to do this fifty-three times... I don't think I can use anything stronger than this..._

She looked at the arrancar contort in pain as Hisagi struck him a second time. The wounds started closing and a second hollow appeared, disappearing shortly afterwards, but not before attempting a strike at Hisagi, forcing him to dodge and giving Gundan a tiny break to recover.

_Right!_

Hisagi looked at Isane and started moving, and as soon as he had lifted one foot, she concentrated on the next move. It was going to be a lot harder, but it was what Hisagi wanted. She raised her left hand with the palm facing forward, and as soon as the arrancar moved, Hisagi threw Kazeshini to one side. Suddenly a yellow barrier appeared in front of Gundan, and as he crashed face first on it, losing all sense of balance and direction, Hisagi's blade sliced through him after describing a wide arc.

Another hollow disappeared.

The barrier shattered and Isane had to put her left hand on the ground to avoid falling forward, panting heavily.

"Take a break." Hisagi said, before pushing forward once more.

_Fifty-one to go._

Hisagi had rushed forward as fast as he could, trying to make the best of the tiny window of opportunity that appeared when Gundan was fatally wounded.

_Fatally. Heh._

The arrancar barely moved when Hisagi sliced it in half after throwing one of Kazeshini's blades, much to his surprise. The white bubbling happened once more, but instead of one hollow, two of them disappeared, and each half of Gundan's body regenerated the other half.

_Oh crap!_

Hisagi was completely unprepared, having been caught unaware by the sudden change in behaviour. One of the two clones grabbed him as he passed, while the other made a swipe down with his sword.

There was a splash of blood as the hollow went through two bodies.

"Shūhei!" Isane cried out.

Hisagi kicked the wounded arrancar away from him, and Isane saw the sword had been stopped in part by Kazeshini's chain. It was still a nasty wound on his left shoulder. With another kick, Hisagi propelled himself back, gaining some distance. The half of Gundan holding the sword put his hand on the wounded second half and, with a glowing pulse of reiatsu, the two halves merged into one, leaving behind a residue of spirit particles where the wounded body had been.

"Are you okay?" Isane called, worried.

"Fine." He answered, putting his right hand on the wound. It had been close, it was going to hurt and bother him, but a few more inches and it'd have been something major. "Stay there."

Isane was about to stand up when Hisagi stopped her.

"There's still fourty-eight to go."

"But..."

"Can't you tell he's getting weaker too?" Hisagi asked.

Isane looked at Gundan and concentrated. Yes, the reiatsu was slightly weaker. Also, she could swear the face, or mask, or whatever it was, was looking slightly distorted.

"What a pain." Isane muttered.

"Yeah. That trick, shedding hollows like that, he's got crazy stamina with it, but it does have a cost."

"As long as no more hollows appear." Isane said, looking around.

"Yeah. Come to think of it, it's been a while since the last one appeared."

"Shūhei, don't tempt fate!" Isane said.

Hisagi didn't say anything, but suddenly there was a large surge of uncontrolled reiatsu coming from all around them. It took them a few seconds to realize it was coming from the dimensional rifts. Hisagi and Isane looked at each other.

"I told you." Isane chided him.

"I guess. But this is strange, it's not like the attack on the big barrier."

Gundan looked around, obviously as disoriented by the intrusion as they were.

"I don't think he likes this either." Hisagi commented.

"What do you think is happening?"

"Who knows." Hisagi looked at Isane, perfectly guessing what was in her mind "Should I check?"

Isane looked at Hisagi, then at the barrier going across the 2nd Division's grounds behind Gundan. He raised one of his Zanpakuto's blades slighty.

"Yes. Should I keep him busy?" Isane asked.

"Can you manage?" Hisagi asked, looking at her shoulder wound. There was a large patch of blood on and around it. "Don't overdo it, we still have to take him down."

"I can." Isane answered, standing up decisively while suppressing a grimace of pain. She unsheathed her Zanpakutō with her left hand, a somewhat awkward move that had her holding the sword in a reverse grip.

Hisagi examined Isane closely, and smiled inwardly.

"Okay. But if anything comes out of the barriers again, we'll have to run for it."

"Shūhei."

"Yeah?"

"You're not planning to run away."

Hisagi looked at her with some surprise.

_Since when can she read me so well?_

"Don't worry, I won't get in your way. Go."

Hisagi only hesitated for a moment before rushing away with shunpo. Despite his misgivings, the reiatsu coming from the dimensional barriers had jumped up considerably, and so far it had been nothing but nasty surprises coming out of them. He caught some movement out of the corner of his eye, but Isane intervened immediately.

"Hadō four, Pale Lightning!"

Still holding her Zanpakutō, Isane was pointing forward with one finger with her left hand, and a clear lightning bolt shot from it, crashing on Gundan's back and sending him tumbling down with a cry of pain.

_Wow. I know Isane's very good at kidō, but that was impressive for a level four!_

He forced himself not to be distracted by the battle, and reached the barrier. He started spinning one of Kazeshini's blade, giving it a good three meters of chain. As he did, he concentrated on his reiatsu, focusing it as much as possible on the weapon. Finally he launched an attack, and as the blade hit the barrier, the crackle of spiritual energy crashing on one another was almost deafening. With a lot more difficulty, he finally managed to crack it and make an opening.

He wasn't expecting what he saw.

The barrier was a simple pocket, holding just the part of the 2nd Division's grounds that was missing. But more importantly, it was teeming with hollows. Regular hollows. Hundreds of them. The crushing reiatsu coming from the barrier had pretty much immobilized them, and during the few moments he kept the hole in the barrier open, he saw several of them finally cracking under the pressure and dissolving away into spirit particles.

"Bakudō sixty-two, Hundred Steps Fence!"

He launched the kidō towards the opening to stop the hollows closer to it from trying to crawl out and compound their troubles. A moment later, the hole closed again.

_I don't get it, why aren't they coming through the barrier anymore? I guess something is interfering with the barriers, or with Katsutoshi. Whatever it is, we have to get rid of this guy, and if the hollows in there are anything like..._

He looked at the open area of the Maggots' Nest. There were still many more prisoners that had not come out or been touched by a hollow. If even more started merging and got even stronger, it'd be a huge problem.

_And the barriers are all over Seireitei, are they all covering that many hollows? Shit, this is bad._

A crashing sound behind him brought him out of his reverie. Isane was skidding to a stop, with her Zanpakutō held in a reverse grip over her left arm. Judging by the rip on the clothes, she must have blocked something rather fierce.

_I don't have time for this. Let's finish this guy._

Hisagi looked at Isane, and as their eyes met, they started moving in unison. Letting herself appear like she was being overpowered, she fell to the ground while blocking Gundan's sword. When his face was mere inches from hers, she extended one finger of her left hand.

"Hadō one, Thrust!"

Gundan was pushed back just enough to be cut down by Kazeshini, as it passed a few centimetres over Isane's face.

"Fourty-four!" She called, kicking Gundan away from her.

"You work fast." Hisagi replied, landing next to her.

Even if she had worked fast, she had a few cuts on her left upper arm, and a large bruise on the right side of her face. And that was only what he could see that was not covered by the clothes.

"And the barrier?" She asked, interrupting his examination.

"It's full of hollows."

"No... No way, more of them?"

"Yes, but they're not coming out, I don't know why." Hisagi raised his guard again, taking a step towards the arrancar. "In the meantime, let's finish this guy already."


	53. Chapter 53

Seree held her breath as Katsutoshi's sword descended towards Yaso's soul. Her blood froze when the impact made a crashing sound and raised a cloud of dust all around them. It felt like an eternity passed until the dust settled and she was able to see them again. And what she saw put new life in her heart, sending it racing and unfreezing her blood.

At first it merely looked like Yaso was kneeling down. She then noticed that his clothes were darker than the Shinigami Academy uniform he had been wearing. And they were, they were completely black, the black of the Shihakushō. Above his head, Yaso was holding a sheath and a half-drawn sword, blocking Katsutoshi's weapon.

She couldn't believe her eyes at first. But once the dust was gone, the image was too clear not to be true. The Zanpakutō, the uniform...

"Yaso!" She called, worried, hopeful, she didn't even know what to feel anymore.

Yaso suddenly sheathed his sword fully, catching the edge of Katsutoshi's weapon and, with a twist, pulling at him and making him lose his footing. With a fluid move, he unsheathed again, slashing at his enemy and giving him a wound on the upper left arm. Katsutoshi disappeared in a blur of shunpo, landing several meters away, right hand on his wounded arm and a look of bewilderment on his face.

As quick as he could, Yaso had taken his mortally wounded body and walked back towards Seree. He dropped his body, reached back, and grabbing the kidō binding Seree with his hand, shattered it with a strong pull.

"Seree, can you take care of this?"

"Y-Yaso... You're..."

"Yeah. We'll talk later."

Seree couldn't move her eyes from Yaso. There was no hesitation, no doubts in his eyes anymore. He had his gaze fixed on Katsutoshi, with his left hand on the hilt of his Zanpakutō.

_I still can't feel any reiatsu from him at all._

Her thoughts were interrupted by a gasp, and she realized Chappy was having a pretty hard time inside Yaso's wounded body. Without hesitation, she grabbed him and, with a shunpo, landed next to Nemu.

"Don't worry Chappy, I'll have you healed in no time, hang in there! I wish I had my pack with me, I have no idea where it is..."

"Yer a friggin' Shinigami now?" Katsutoshi asked, as he readied himself for another attack, walking slowly towards Yaso.

"Funny thing, isn't it? I've been one for two years, and I didn't even know."

"Hadō thirty-one, Red Fire Cannon!"

Without a single warning, Katsutoshi shot a kidō at Yaso, and pushed forward with shunpo as soon as the spell had landed. His attack was deflected by Yaso when he first unsheathed, followed by a hit on his right arm with the green saya of his Zanpakutō. Yaso spun with the same movement he used to block, and as Katsutoshi ducked under the new attack, Yaso was forced to jump back to avoid the red blade of his opponent coming low at him.

Katsutoshi regarded him with curiosity for a few moments.

"That's yer Zanpakutō's ability, ain't it? It blocks yer reiatsu, and kidō, and everything else that don't work on ya."

"Who knows." Yaso replied nonchalantly.

_**He's right!**_

He recognized the voice inside his head immediately. There was no painful pulse this time.

_"I know, Tonbo-chan. But there's no reason to give anything away." _He whispered.

_**T-Tonbo-chan?  
><strong>_

_"What, you don't like it?"_

"If that's yer Zanpakutō, there's gots to be a limit of what it cans do." Katsutoshi continued.

"Who knows."

Katsutoshi grinned, and pushed forward with shunpo. Seree snapped her head up when she felt the sudden surge of reiatsu, remembering Katsutoshi breaking the sword Urahara had made.

_It's the same, what is he going to do?_

"P-pyon..."

"Sorry Chappy!" Seree said, returning her attention to the injured body. "I got distracted for a moment, hang in there okay?"

She let herself be slightly distracted for another second, reaching out with her kidō to Nemu, who was laying next to Yaso's body. Still very weak, but stable. She marvelled at the Lieutenant's resilience.

Back at the combat, Yaso was having flashbacks of his near-death experience. Katsutoshi was pushing hard and fast, in an almost reckless fashion, and relying on his reflexes to get out of Yaso's counters. Finally, Yaso managed to narrowly dodge one of the attacks, finding an opening. He slashed down towards Katsutoshi's right arm, aiming at severing it at the elbow, but Katsutoshi responded as if he had been waiting for it, pushing back and attacking with all his might.

The clash of sword on sword was almost deafening, and there was a high pith note of something metallic cracking. For a moment they looked at each other, and Yaso noticed Katsutoshi's eyes on his sword.

He looked down, there was a noticeable crack on the blade.

"Man, and I thoughts I could getcha with the same trick twice in a row, it would've been a riot!" Katsutoshi said, grinning.

_**What's with the worried look?**_

_"Are you okay, Tonbo-chan?"_

_**Of course I am. That's just an empty blade. You still haven't called my name, what are you waiting for?**_

Katsutoshi pushed forward once more, and his powerful lunge was dodged by Yaso only by a fraction of an inch. He slashed up with his chipped blade, letting it be deflected by Katsutoshi when his counter tried to break it again.

_**Don't hesitate. Don't doubt. Believe in yourself. You heard it when you took me in your hands, call my name!**_

The blade finally shattered when Katsutoshi blocked Yaso's downwards slash. The sudden shower of shrapnel made both of them cover their faces and retreat from each other. Katsutoshi looked at Yaso and saw him raising his broken blade to his right, horizontal at shoulder length.

"Shine your guiding light..." Yaso started chanting, as the remains of the blade shone and disappeared, leaving only an empty handle. "Katsumushimiko!"

A flash of light in the shape of a blade appeared, and as it dimmed down, it left behind a completely transparent curved blade, about 70 cm in length. It had a false double-edged tip, and a subtle, constantly swirling blue tint along the edge. It was so clear it would have been invisible, if it weren't reflecting the few lights present around them.

"Hm, so that's yer Zanpakutō's release."

Yaso didn't answer. He looked at the blade, and made a couple of short movements before sheathing it again.

_"You're very light, Tonbo-chan."_

_**Will that be a problem?**_

_"I'll manage. Can we cut him?"_

_**If you're asking for permission, then yes. If you're wondering whether we're capable, then **_**hell ****_yes!_**

Yaso smirked. Katsutoshi misunderstood it as a provocation, and a moment later he jumped away with shunpo, appearing to Yaso's left with an even faster movement than any he had used so far. As he slashed down, Yaso pivoted back on his right foot and unsheathed.

A moment later, Katsutoshi started to fall back, his sword sliced in half and with a deep wound going across his chest, With a fluid motion, Yaso grasped the tsuka with both hands as he sliced down again, giving Katsutoshi a second and mortal wound.

Seree watched the combat completely awestruck. She was working on autopilot, after having closed the wound on Yaso's body, so she could watch the combat. She didn't understand how it happened, she didn't see where the power could possibly have come from. She knew full well how strong Katsutoshi was, and he had been sliced through together with his Zanpakutō with incredible ease.

_I still can't feel any reiatsu! Where is that power coming from?_

Making a slash through the air to remove the blood, Yaso sheathed and turned to walk towards Seree, looking at her and smiling. Seree smiled at first, but her smile froze in her face when her gaze became fixed behind Yaso. He turned, and saw Katsutoshi's body contorting on the ground. He couldn't feel the strange fluctuations of reiatsu that had scared Seree like that.

"What the..."

A white fluid seemed to ooze out of the two wounds Yaso had given Katsutoshi, and with a scream of pain, it suddenly started bubbling and solidifying.

"Yaso! Watch out!"

Yaso took a few prudent steps back after Seree's warning.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know!" She shouted. "But it feels very strange! And dangerous!"

Yaso assumed his ready stance and waited. Before long the screaming had finished, and Katsutoshi stood up again. Yaso thought his eyes looked strange, like black flecks were dancing inside the eyeballs, and they seemed almost bloodshot. He was too far to really make out the details. But more importantly, the wounds appeared to be closed.

"Well nuts, what does it take to kill this guy?"

"Aaaah, that really hurts." Katsutoshi said, moving his head around and pulling at the neck muscles, until he seemed comfortable enough. "And lookit this."

He raised his Zanpakutō and looked at it. The blade was less than 20 inches long, sliced in half by Yaso. It started oozing the same white liquid from the end, and as it suddenly bubbled out, the blade was reformed.

"That's a nice trick." Yaso said, with a raised eyebrow.

"Ain't it? Ahhh, but now it all makes sense." Katsutoshi pointed at Yaso with his red Zanpakutō. "Now I knows why you's so hard to feel reiatsu for."

Katsutoshi smiled, but Yaso didn't say anything.

"I tolds ya, when two spirits fight, who's gots more reiatsu wins. Yer reiatsu ain't that strong, but the reason I can't feel it it's because it's all in yer Zanpakutō. By concentrating all reiatsu at the edge of the blade, you cans cut through mine. Even if I'm strongest."

_**He's smarter than he looks.**_

_"So he can't stop you?" _Yaso whispered.

_**We can run him through whenever we want.**_

"But you see..." Katsutoshi raised his blade, snapping Yaso into attention in an instant. "Even if you's got a sharp blade, that's all you's got. You gots no shunpo. You gots no kidō."

"Should be plenty." Yaso replied.

"Oh really?"

Katsutoshi lunged forward, stopping just inside Yaso's reach and slicing down with his Zanpakutō. Yaso responded with a wide slash, cutting through the red blade with virtually no resistance, at a speed he could only achieve because of the nearly weightless blade. Katsutoshi didn't seem to mind, and with the same move he merely pushed forward. He couldn't pierce Yaso with a flat ended blade, but he still managed to give him a very unexpected cut on his chest, deep enough to touch his ribs. Yaso responded with a downwards slice, and Katsutoshi let him cut another piece of is Zanpakutō, forcing Yaso to dodge back awkwardly to avoid a cut across his face. On the third attack, Yaso used the Saya instead to hit Katsutoshi on the arm to avert the much shorter blade, and his subsequent attack found only empty air.

From a distance, Katsutoshi smiled and, as he concentrated, the white bubbling fluid started pouring from the broken end of his Zanpakutō. Seree looked at him, trying to figure out what was going on while keeping her healing going strong.

_That's not a Shinigami ability. That feels like a hollow's high speed regeneration._

Her kidō wavered for a moment. Both Chappy and Nemu were in serious condition, but they were stable enough. She should be helping Yaso instead. He was looking at Katsutoshi, holding a hand the chest wound he had given him.

_"This is going to be a problem, Tonbo-chan."_

_**You can avoid him.**_

_"Maybe, but I'm too used to block and counter. Say, what would happen if I block with your back?"_

_**I'll probably break. All our reiatsu is concentrated in the edge, just like he said.**_

_"I see. How much of the edge?"_

_**What are you thinking?**_

_"I'm thinking a change of rhythm. You remember my fencing? Parry and riposte?"_

_**Of course I do.**_

_"Something like that. Let's do it."_

"Whatcha mumbling about?" Katsutoshi asked, raising his newly reformed Zanpakutō.

"Just having a little talk." Yaso tucked the saya under his sash, and raised his Zanpakutō, pointing at Katsutoshi with the edge facing up. "Ready for the second round?"

For an answer, Katsutoshi rushed forward and appeared above Yaso's head. As he sliced down, Yaso raised his blade to block. There was a metallic note as both swords met. Katsutoshi's face showed his surprise when his Zanpakutō wasn't cut, Yaso had met the blade with his own's edge at an angle. It didn't cut through, but the reiatsu was still there to block. As Katsutoshi fell down preparing to land, Yaso pushed up with his Zanpakutō and, as soon as he had the space, made a slash forward with all his might. He gave his foe a deep cut across his belly, but didn't manage to cut through completely.

Ignoring his wound, Katsutoshi attempted an attack as soon as his feet touched the ground, aiming to slice at Yaso's exposed midsection. He spun his blade to point down, blocking it at an angle again. For a second time he pushed Katsutoshi's Zanpakutō away, and in the subsequent move gave him a deep cut up through the left shoulder.

Katsutoshi jumped away a considerable distance. Yaso saw white fluid coming out of the wounds.

_"That didn't feel as sharp as before, you okay Tonbo-chan?"_

_**Yes. I dispersed our reiatsu along my blade some when I saw you trying to block like that. I'll try to sharpen up when you do the attacks, but following what you're doing is hard to do on my own.**_

_"I think you and I are going to have to practice together a lot when we're done here."_

_**I'd like that.**_

Katsutoshi had barely recovered before rushing forward again. His next attack was once again blocked by Yaso, but Katsutoshi was the fastest on the next step. He pushed down at his sword until the edges were right against each other, and pushed hard, cutting his own Zanpakutō on Katsumushimiko's and with the impulse giving Yaso's left arm a deep cut. Yaso pulled back slicing down, but his retreat had been too hasty, leaving him open for an attack.

Katsutoshi's attack, however, didn't find his target. Before he could cut Yaso, it was blocked by another blade.

"Seree!"

Holding fast with one hand on the tsuka and another on the back of Yaezakura, Seree was blocking Katsutoshi's powerful blow. His surprise gave Yaso an opening, and he was within an ace of severing Katsutoshi's left arm. For an instant their eyes met, and Yaso thought Katsutoshi's eyes were looking very strange. They were nearly completely black, and if he had to put a word to it, he'd say they looked like he was staring into madness.

Katsutoshi once again pulled back, and Seree assumed her ready stance in front of Yaso.

"Seree?"

"I'm fine. Chappy's fine too, at least for now." She glanced at Yaso over her shoulder. "If you can't block his attacks, let me be the one to do it, Yaso."

"Are you sure? We haven't done much fighting together since the last time we whooped his butt." Yaso said, gesturing with his head towards Katsutoshi.

"I'm sure." She grasped her sword firmly, looking forward. "Trust me."

They were interrupted when Katsutoshi suddenly started laughing. It wasn't even a soft laugh, he laughed with the abandon of someone whose sanity is about to disappear. Yaso and Seree looked at him, and saw a strange white reiatsu dancing around his body.

"What's going on?" Yaso asked.

"I don't know. I've been feeling this weird reiatsu since you two started fighting, but I still don't know what it is."

Katsutoshi kept laughing, trying to talk in between laughs.

"Damn you Daruma! You... You really gots me..." He had to stop talking for a few more moments. "I didn't wants to... Do this. You damn hollow. I can'ts hold it back nomore."

He grinned wickedly when he looked at his two opponents, and Seree gulped as Katsutoshi's reiatsu suddenly started climbing out of control. She could feel the increased reiatsu pummelling at her from the walls of the dimensional barriers. Behind her, Yaso couldn't feel a thing, all he could see were the eyes of Katsutoshi, moving as if he had lost all control of them.

Finally, Katsutoshi lifted his Zanpakutō and, throwing it in the air, grabbed the blade with both hands.

"BANKAI!"

* * *

><p>Translation Notes:<p>

Katsumushimiko (勝虫美子): Beautiful Child of the Dragonfly. Katsumushi (勝虫) is one of the ancient names for the dragonfly, which means "invincible insect". The modern name of the dragonfly is Tonbo (トンボ, or 蜻蛉), hence Tonbo-chan. Miko (美子) just plainly means beautiful child (you'll see 美 often at the end of Japanese names ending with -mi, which means beautiful, and 子 in names ending in -ko, which means child; do a quick Google search for "Sakurako" or "Kumiko" and you'll see what I mean). Miko could also be written 巫女, which, while it means "shaman woman", is generally translated as the more common "Shrine Maiden".

While I'm translating:

Yaso (八十): Eight-ten (um... Eighty :D), as explained in the text, the idea is that the word for nine (Kyū, or Ku) sounds similar to the word for suffering, so this name "skips" the nine, and so suffering should "skip" the child. Nine is considered unlucky, much like four.

Yaezakura (八重桜): This is more straightforward, it's a "double cherry blossom", a variety of cherry blossom that has more than the standard five petals (usually as doubles: ten, twenty, etc..., that has to do with the way genetic duplication works, so you get multiples of five in a 2^n series). It is sometimes considered to be too pretentious, lacking the elegance and simplicity of regular five-petal cherry blossoms.

Katsutoshi (勝俊): "To win cleverly". Kachi (勝) means win (or rather, wins).

Gundan (軍団): Corps (as in army corps). No, it's not Gungan, that was OpenOffice autocomplete messing up (or rather, me messing up with autocomplete) and me not noticing it – that's what happens when you've written a lot more Star Wars fanfic than Bleach *Facepalm*. So I've gone and corrected all the wrong entries.

Daruma (達磨): It's a round, hollow, traditional Japanese doll. A quick image search will likely let you recognize it immediately if you haven't recognized the name already; it's everywhere in Anime/Manga, because it's everywhere in Japan :)

And this is where someone who speaks good Japanese (i.e., someone who, unlike me, doesn't have to stop to look at the dictionary every other word) comes and corrects me!


	54. Chapter 54

"Next Dance, Hakuren!"

The cascade of frost from Rukia's Zanpakutō didn't fail to encase her enemy in ice, and with a loud crashing sound, it shattered and fell to the ground. She puffed and wiped the sweat from her brow, looking at the rest of the newly emerged hollows. There were a lot of them, but their mergers seemed to be losing efficacy. On the opposite side, Ichigo was making mincemeat of as many hollows as he could get his oversized Zanpakutō through.

A loud crashing and a spike of reiatsu distracted her for a moment. With a sudden surge of Shunkō, Yoruichi had smashed several of Daruma's dolls.

"It is pointless, Shihōin Yoruichi." Daruma said, his voice coming from inside one of the dolls. "You cannot destroy me, only slow my dolls for an instant before I reform them."

"Ah? I only have to smash one."

"Why is th-"

Daruma was interrupted when Yoruichi disappeared with an impossibly fast shunpo, smashing one of the dolls into a thousand tiny pieces. A moment after they started scattering about, they stopped mid-air and rushed together to reform the doll. Yoruichi stepped away again.

"How pointless." Daruma sneered.

_I was so sure he was inside that one. Either he can talk through the dolls, or... No, I'm sure I felt his reiatsu. Either I have to smash them all, or he moves between them somehow._

Her reverie was interrupted when two of the dolls rushed towards her. She narrowly dodged the attacks, only for her movements to come to a frozen stop as she was entangled in a myriad of ultrathin reiatsu threads. She unleashed the full power of her Shunkō to rip through them and disappear, just as a third doll made a lunge at her with one of its sharp-ended arms. When she appeared again, a small trickle of blood ran down the wound she got on the back.

"How desperately you cling to life; it is clear what the outcome of this will be." Daruma taunted her.

"Oh? You think you can beat me at cat and mouse?" She smirked.

"Of course."

_Let's try something else._

"Bakudō sixty-one, Six-Rod Light Restraint!"

Yoruichi pointed at the doll she had identified the voice came from, and the six beams of light quickly smashed on its body, immobilizing it. She immediately used shunpo to appear next to it, and gave it a powerful blow with her Shunkō-covered fist. The doll took longer than usual to become completely undone, making the binding spell shatter in the process.

Yoruichi jumped away again, and when she appeared she was smirking widely. The fragments of the doll started rearranging themselves slowly, and some of them were soiled with blood.

"Damn... You..."

"Heh, so I was right. You are using those threads to move your real body from doll to doll. I figured your _resurrección _was somewhat similar to kidō, and if I could prevent you from moving, well."

"Don't think... You have won..."

Daruma's reiatsu started increasing, and as it did, the fragments held together on the dolls started trembling. With perfect synchronization, half of the dolls shattered into the thousands of individual fragments they were made of, and they stood apart from each other, suspended in the air.

Yoruichi looked at them with a distrustful eye. There were so many she was surrounded in all directions.

_Will he just throw them at me? Or something else? This could be like Byakuya's Senbonzakura... No, their movements are much cruder._

Some of the fragments behind her crashed together and formed a doll in the blink of an eye, and a moment later a sphere of red energy formed in front of it.

_Cero!_

She jumped out of the way of the cero, and as she did, another doll was formed above her head. A second cero was shot while the first doll shattered into fragments. She dodged again, and then a third. And a fourth. She was hard pressed to keep dodging the rapid-firing ceros, too pressed to think of attacking. Finally she was caught in a bad spot between three of the dolls, and had to press forward and meet one of the ceros head on. The clash of the arrancar's power with her own Shunkō made for a rather large explosion that send dust, debris, and doll shrapnel around to a considerable distance. When the dust started to settle, Yoruichi's figure could be made standing in the same spot, with some bruises and burns on her right arm and half of her right forearm sleeve had disappeared.

"You continue to impress me." Daruma said, in a flat voice that made one doubt whether it had been a compliment or not.

"Really. You, on the other hand-"

She was interrupted when a large surge of reiatsu crashed on them. It seemed to disorient everyone, Shinigami and hollow alike, and it was a few moments before Yoruichi realized it was coming from the dimensional barriers.

_If that's Katsutoshi... I have to wrap things up here fast and go help Yaso, I have a really bad feeling about this._

"Hmph, about time." Daruma said.

"About time what?"

"There's no need to tell you."

"Ooh. I see. You think Katsutoshi is up to something."

"Very smart. He is probably focusing on finishing his mission now."

"Really? His mission?"

Yoruichi couldn't see Daruma, but she could tell she had given him some pause. All she had to do was plant a slight seed of doubt.

_With any luck he'll get careless.  
><em>

"What do you mean, Shihōin Yoruichi?"

"You haven't noticed? The barriers stopped changing and moving quite some time ago. Not a single hollow has come out of them, they all came through normal hollow portals."

"So?"

"So, if we've been fighting all this time, and only now there's some change in the barriers, what has Katsutoshi been doing all this time?" Yoruichi smirked, very carefully surveying the remaining dolls for a reaction without appearing to do so. "Even better, what is he doing now? Other than the extra reiatsu, do you see any changes in his barriers? At all?"

Several seconds passed, until Yoruichi noticed the slightest of movements from one of the dolls, turning a bit towards the nearest barrier. With the fastest shunpo she could muster, she rushed it.

"Bakudō sixty-one, Six-Rod Light Restraint!"

Her kidō landed a fraction of a second before her Shunkō, and this time, as doll pieces scattered about, she caught a glimpse of the real Daruma under the segmented armour. A second punch landed on his face, and with a kick on the stomach she sent him flying, scattering the rest of his armour to the four winds.

"Ichigo!"

His response was near-instantaneous.

"Getsuga Tenshō!"

The blue crescent of reiatsu shot through the air and landed straight on Daruma, with a large explosion and a cry of pain from the arrancar. As he crashed on the ground, the dolls started falling apart, dropping piece by piece together with the floating fragments of his _resurrección._

It was several seconds before Daruma began to painfully get on his feet again. Zangetsu's attack had left him worse for wear, and the left half of his body seemed to have taken the brunt of it.

"That... Stupid... Shinigami..."

Yoruichi had been approaching him, and stopped a few short paces from his crash site, her right arm on her hip and obviously pleased with the result.

"I told ya. Did you two really think you could beat us?"

"Beat... you..." Daruma spoke painfully through deep, agonizing breaths. "Of course... We could have beaten you... That damn... Katsutoshi..."

"That." Yoruichi pointed at the barrier with her thumb. "That is good, but not good enough. You should have known this already. Even with all these hollows, and your abilities."

"Heh. It seems... I'll have to... Do everything myself... But that means... Aizen-sama will be pleased... With me..."

"Aizen?" Yoruichi asked, somewhat surprised.

Daruma didn't elaborate. With a sudden howl. The fragments of his dolls took flight and rushed towards him, forcing Yoruichi to dodge away with shunpo. Even before they had completely reformed on his body, Daruma moved away at great speed towards the barrier.

"Oh crap, Ichigo!"

With just that phrase she took off after Daruma, with Ichigo using his Bankai to gain enough speed to follow her. The arrancar practically crashed through the barrier, and as it closed behind him, Yoruichi used her strongest Shunkō to punch a hole through it. A much smaller hole than she had expected formed, and was open barely long enough for both of them to sneak in. As soon as they did they felt the crushing reiatsu that was concentrated inside that dimensional pocket. And packed between the walls were dozens of regular hollows, having a very hard time trying to merely stay alive.

Daruma was ahead of them, rushing along at great speed.

"After him! Don't fall behind Ichigo!"

"What's going on Yoruichi-san?" Ichigo asked as they pushed forward.

"I sent Yaso to get Katsutoshi and rescue Seree."

"So?"

"So I think he was doing fine until now, that's why these barriers have stopped changing and we could get in just now, but if this reiatsu is Katsutoshi's, and Daruma is going to help too, he's going to be in a lot of trouble!"

"Really? I thought reiatsu and kidō didn't do anything on him."

"No! I broke through once." She pointed at the walls of the dimensional pocket as they rushed along. "Someone this strong probably can break through too. Hurry!"


	55. Chapter 55

"Ban...kai?"

Yaso looked at Katsutoshi as he was engulfed in a cloud of dust and glowing reiatsu. When the air cleared, all they could see was a gigantic spider-like web, red in colour, with a light glow and bound to the dimensional walls that were lined all around them.

"What the hell is that Seree?" He asked, confused.

"That's a Bankai, remember?"

"You mean like Abarai was using that time?" He asked in response, remembering the day he fought the Lieutenant until Yoruichi stopped them.

"Yes. But this... This feels weird. Almost..." She stopped talking, gasping suddenly.

"Almost?"

"Look!"

Seree was pointing at one end of the spiderweb. Perched on it was Katsutoshi, or so she thought. He had grown several spider legs on his sides, and his face looked very strange. His mouth had grown wider, with a row of sharp, pointy teeth featuring prominently, and whiteless black eyes, a black so deep it was in sharp contrast with the thin layer of white material that seemed to be pouring from his mouth, covering his face slowly.

"That's Katsutoshi?" Yaso asked, looking at Seree, and noticing her hands were trembling, and her grasp on her Zanpakutō weakening. "Are you okay?"

Seree was almost jolted out of her skin when Yaso placed his left hand on her right.

"Y-Yes!"

"What's wrong?"

"He..." She gulped. "His reiatsu. It's so... Can't you feel it?"

"Huh." Yaso raised an eyebrow and looked at Katsutoshi, who was slowly walking around the web, as if getting reacquainted with his own power. "Not really, what am I supposed to feel?"

Seree looked at Yaso in astonishment. The reiatsu coming from Katsutoshi, and worse still, every barrier around them, was not just crushingly strong, it felt foul and suffocating. The more Seree thought about it, the more keenly she felt its weight, and the harder it became for her to even breathe. Sweat started forming on her brow, timidly crawling down her face.

A squeeze on her hand brought her back to reality.

"Calm down Seree. I'm right here with you. We'll do this together, right?"

His voice and his presence were reassuring, but she couldn't make the uneasiness go away.

_He can't feel him. I bet it's because of his Zanpakutō. That doesn't mean he's strong enough... No, what am I thinking now?_

"Seree?"

"Yaso, he's really, really strong. Really. I know you can't feel it, but trust me."

Katsutoshi had seemingly done all the exploring he wanted, and with a loud hiss that made both of his enemies turn to him with a head snap. He raced up the web, only to disappear through one of the barriers.

"Where did he go?" Seree asked, looking around.

"He's... Watch out!"

Yaso pushed Seree out of the way and they jumped away from each other as Katsutoshi reappeared, jumping out of the barrier above their heads, and falling down between them. Something red trailed from his back, and as it stretched, it quickly expanded into another web, trapping Seree and immobilizing her, and getting a good hold of Yaso too.

"What's this?" Yaso shouted, struggling but failing to free himself.

"Yaso!"

He couldn't free himself, the web was surprisingly sticky. It stuck to his skin, it stuck to his clothes, and above all it felt to Yaso like he was being completely immobilized in place, even where the web merely touched his clothes.

Katsutoshi hissed, sounding almost like an animal as he looked at Yaso, and licked the mask around his mouth with a disgustingly long tongue. He was crawling on the ground on his multiple limbs, standing barely a meter high.

"Damn... You..."

As the spider suddenly jumped, Yaso pulled as hard as he could, and the web suddenly got unstuck. The sudden anchor loss made him stumble and fall, and he rolled to stand as fast as he could, slashing with his Zanpakutō just in time to deflect one of the spider legs making for his neck. He felt the impact of blade on blade, he saw at end of each spider leg was a sharp knife-like claw.

It took Yaso a few moments to realize he hadn't cut through. He didn't have time to dwell on it, Katsutoshi pressed his attack more, and Yaso had his hands full protecting himself from the flurry of attacks.

"… march to the South! Hadō thirty-one, Red Fire Cannon!"

Seree's spell landed close to Katsutoshi, but not close enough. Entangled in the web, she had been unable to aim properly, but the distraction had been enough for Yaso to take a step back and get his bearings.

_"What's going on, Tonbo-chan?"_

_**He's really strong! It took all I had just to get you out of that web.**_

_"All you... Is that why we can't cut him?"_

_**Yes.**_

His conversation was interrupted when Katsutoshi looked at him, and a new web emerged from his back. It shot straight towards Yaso, and at the same time expanded to anchor itself to the dimensional barriers. For a moment Yaso was stuck to it, but once again managed to pull himself free after a few seconds of struggle, moments before Katsutoshi came running over the web itself to attack him.

"So this is your bankai then?" Yaso asked, trying to buy himself some time to think.

Katsutoshi merely hissed. His mouth was acquiring monstrous proportions, and the drool coming out of it had a thick, white appearance not unlike the thin mask that was covering some of his face.

"Katsutoshi?" Yaso asked, confused by his lack of response.

"Katsu... toshi..." He muttered, with a deep, guttural voice. "Tsuchigumo."

"Is that your bankai's name? Or yours?" Yaso waited, but got no reply. "Figures, what on Earth happened to you?"

There was no response again, but a few moments later Seree cried out in pain, or perhaps fear, before her voice became muffled.

"Seree!" Yaso called, only to have to turn away when Katsutoshi attacked him again.

The web around Seree had started to contort, wrapping itself around her more tightly and thoroughly, and starting to look like a cocoon.

_"Tonbo-chan, we have to cut this guy!"_

_**But...**_

_"You can sharpen up if you stop protecting me so much, can't you?"_

_**Yes.**_

_"We're gonna have to take some risks. Trust me!"_

Yaso felt Katsumushimiko starting to sharpen up. It was a strange sensation, he could only describe it a having perceived her feelings. The initial hesitation, then the keenness as the blade sharpened up to cut the enemy. Yaso dodged narrowly twice, and with a sudden jump to his left, slashed upwards, severing one of the spider legs.

He found Katsutoshi's howl, a mix of pain and surprise, strangely satisfying. The blue tint of his blade narrowed more and more, until only a very narrow strip of blue reiatsu covered the very end of the blade's edge. His follow-up downwards slash met even less resistance, and as a second leg went flying. Katsutoshi quickly launched himself backwards, crawling up the first web he had weaved and away from Yaso.

Yaso rushed back as fast as he could, and with barely a glance, cut through the web that was enveloping Seree's face. Some of the threads got loose and dropped, uncovering her eyes and nose. Her sudden and urgent breaths showed she had nearly suffocated in there.

"Are you okay? Hang on!"

"Hmph!"

Her eyes snatched wide open looking behind Yaso, and he turned to see Katsutoshi had shot a new web at them. Holding onto his Zanpakutō firmly with both hands, he timed his attack to cut down the web as it was about to trap him again, with a downwards slash that made a two meter long opening. The web landed on top of the one Seree was being held in.

Katsutoshi had grown his legs again.

"What a pain." Yaso murmured, facing Katsutoshi with his guard high. "He's not going to let me free Seree, is he?"

Yaso looked over his shoulder at Seree, and their gazes met. Seree would have nodded if she could have, and Yaso did so after her. He made a wide swipe back, cutting some more threads, and rushed forward towards Katsutoshi.

Seree struggled and managed to free her face completely. The flow of reiatsu through the web seemed to be easily interrupted when cut like that.

"Yaso! Hollows with high speed regeneration, you have to hit the vital parts! Aim for the head and the mask!" She shouted.

"Got it!" Yaso replied, not looking back.

Katsutoshi dodged the three slash combo Yaso had tried, and took several steps back. The latter didn't realize until it was too late that his spider opponent was weaving another web, but this time it appeared behind Yaso, shooting from one of the dimensional barriers. He didn't have even a chance to see it before he got stuck to it. As he struggled to free himself, Katsutoshi ran up another web and, turning to Yaso, raised six of his eight spider legs, pointing them at him.

"What the..."

Energy swirled in the air and started to concentrate into six small red spheres of reiatsu in front of the claws.

"Cero!" Seree shouted. "Watch out Yaso!"

Yaso felt once again his Zanpakutō's reaction. The edge of his blade started to lose its colour, and with a final yank, he freed himself from the web as the sticky reiatsu was rejected by Katsumushimiko.

_**Dodge!**_

Yaso rushed out of the way moments before the six ceros were fired. His legs were caught in one of the blasts, and the ensuing explosion sent him flying several meters with a shower of debris and dust. Even with his Zanpakutō trying to protect him at full power, his legs were covered in wounds and burns. He cried out in pain as he fell on the ground, but couldn't hear his own voice. He couldn't hear anything, only a dull ringing after the loud and near explosions.

He didn't hear Seree shouting desperately at him to stand up. He didn't hear Katsutoshi approaching either. He couldn't hear anything. He finally realized his danger when the dust started to settle and he saw the hollowified spider barely three steps from him. He didn't hear Seree's cries of pain. Everything after that happened in slow motion in his mind.

Seree appeared right behind Katsutoshi. Yaso was so wired at that time that he actually saw her approach, extremely fast, as she was carried by her shunpo, instead of seeing her just blur into existence. She was holding her released Zanpakutō with both hands, high and poised to strike. Most of her clothes had been torn, and there were pieces of ice on the web threads that clung to her body. Her shoulders had marks of burns, and marks of frostbite were all over her body in a thread-like pattern. As for her face, she was grimacing and her eyes were wide open, in a mixture of fear, pain, and desperation.

After Katsutoshi's attack, Seree had managed to free herself by releasing her Zanpakutō. Even with her extremely limited mobility, she managed to freeze the threads and then cut slowly through them with the searing edge of Yaezakura. With little control and range of movement at first, she had suffered the effects on herself too.

She didn't care. She'd have cut her own limbs to get free if that would have let her get to Yaso before that horrifying spider did.

"Ser..."

Yaso didn't have time to finish. Seree's Zanpakutō descended at great speed as she swung with everything she had. There was no reaction from Katsutoshi at first, and the searing blade cleaved his head in half, freezing it as the back of the sword passed through. A moment later, Seree was sent flying backwards, pierced by several spiny barbs, and Katsutoshi's clothes were blown away into a thousand rags of cloth.

Underneath the clothes was a spider. A hollow-like spider, burrowed deep inside his flesh. Its legs ran through his back and out his sides, the legs Yaso had thought were Katsutoshi's bankai. And its back was covered in spines.

"Seree!" Yaso shouted.

There was no response. He caught a glimpse of her face as she fell back. The grimace was gone, and so was the anxious look on her face. There was only dull, distant surprise in her eyes.

Yaso felt his blood freeze for a moment, but the illusion was shattered when the spider hissed again, this time through its own mouth. He looked at the wretched creature's shining red eyes, and a single thought cleared everything else from his mind.

He wanted to _kill_ that thing.

He had never wanted anything more than he wanted to kill that thing at that moment. He sheathed his Zanpakutō and rushed forward. He could have reflected on how, finally, his feelings and his thoughts were in perfect sync with those of Katsumushimiko. Or how his blade sharpened inside the sheath with his desire to cut down his enemy. But he couldn't. All he could feel was the desire to kill it. His mind went back to his most basic training.

_Empty yourself. Fill your surroundings with your presence. React without thought._

The spider disappeared in front of his would have recognized the shunpo, or as the hollows call it, _sonido. _He only reacted, unsheathing as the spider reappeared behind him. He wouldn't have time to attack if he had to turn. His hand had moved by instinct, and grabbed the tsuka. As he did, Katsumushimiko reacted, placing all their reiatsu into a hair-wide edge.

Several barbs shot from the hollow, piercing his chest and abdomen.

It was too late. Yaso had unsheathed in a reverse grip, and stabbed backwards without turning as all of his and Katsumushimiko's reiatsu was concentrated into the double edge of the tip of his Zanpakutō. That was the move that nearly caught Yoruichi by surprise.

It was the move that put Katsumushimiko through the spider's head, shattering its mask, piercing through Katsutoshi's chest, and pinning it down to the ground like a piece of an entomologist's collection.


	56. Chapter 56

"Wow. Rangiku-san, look!"

Matsumoto was laying on the ground with her eyes closed, under the amber glow of Orihime's Sōten Kisshun. Her clothes were soiled and bloodied, and there was a large tear on them over her stomach, where Orihime had just finished closing the worst wound she had gotten.

She opened her eyes and looked at the girl.

"What is it?"

"Look, those weird barriers are disappearing."

Slowly, the dimensional barriers were retreating, and the town was recovering its normal aspect. Orihime smiled, and Matsumoto merely sighed and laid back down again.

"I wonder what happened. Do you think we won, Rangiku-san?"

"I hope so." She sighed again. "I really don't feel like fighting anymore."

"Uh..." Orihime looked around. "I think the hollows are leaving too."

Elsewhere in town, Rukia and Renji were having a similar conversation.

"Wait, Rukia! They're leaving!"

"What?"

Rukia stopped chasing one of the hollows and looked back at Renji. She then followed his gaze, and saw several portals appear and hollows rush through them.

"They're going back to Hueco Mundo?"

"Seems like it." Renji answered, though her question had been rhetorical. "I think we won."

Rukia stopped and looked up to the sky, trying to feel the reiatsu of the others. Matsumoto, Orihime, Urahara... She managed to trace everyone except for Yoruichi and Ichigo.

"I can't find Ichigo or Yoruichi." She finally concluded.

"Eh, give it time." Renji replied nonchalantly. "Look."

His thumb pointed at the barriers behind them, which were slowly retreating towards the nexus where they connected towards the sky. Rukia looked unconvinced.

"What?"

"I'm not so sure. I'm going to go find Urahara."

"Huh? Why?"

"I don't know, I have a bad feeling about this."

"Okay fine, I'll come too."

Without pesky barriers interrupting them, they reached the shop in mere minutes. The interior was a mess, and the two kids were busy trying to sort out the merchandise that had fallen all over the place. Leaving the wounded Renji to the care of Tessai, Rukia rushed to the back of the shop, where Urahara was sitting in front of his terminal.

"Urahara-san!"

"Oh, welcome." He grinned. "Long time no see!"

"Uh... Eh... Yes, sure." Rukia shook her head and snapped back to reality. "What's going on? Have we won? Where is Ichigo?"

"That's a good question!" He pointed at the screen, and Rukia moved to peek at it over his shoulder. "Look, the dimensional anomalies are disappearing from Karakura Town."

"I... See, so we won."

"That's the question, you see." He pointed at the center of the slowly disappearing web of barriers. "It seems like not everything is going away."

"So..." Rukia prompted, obviously confused.

"So, I think our problems are not over yet."

Inside the barrier labyrinth, things were starting to get a bit disorienting for Ichigo and Yoruichi, AS the barriers collapsed around them, they had to push forward as fast as they could to avoid being shifted out of them.

"Yoruichi-san, what's going on?"

"I don't know, either they're retreating, or..."

"Or?"

"Or maybe Yaso..."

She stopped talking when suddenly the barriers collapsed in front of them, trapping the pair inside a rapidly shrinking dimensional pocket.

"Let's get out! Shunkō!"

Yoruichi crashed through the barrier, and Ichigo followed her closely. Surprisingly, the opening she had created didn't collapse, but to the contrary it kept expanding until finally that whole portion of the barrier disappeared.

"Where are we?" She asked, looking around the unfamiliar ground in the outskirts of Karakura.

"Dunno... Wait, look!"

The convergence point of all the barriers was not far from them, shooting into the dark sky like a beacon. Without saying a word, Yoruichi took off at full speed towards it, blasting through barriers with complete abandon and with Ichigo following close. Before they reached it, the barriers finally disappeared completely, and as they retreated towards the sky, Yoruichi managed to make the silhouette of Daruma against the bright barrier hanging from the sky. He, or one of his dolls, appeared to be carrying a body, but before she could make out the details, they disappeared.

"Yoruichi-san?"

"Daruma has escaped." She answered, annoyed.

When they arrived at the scene of the battle, Yoruichi was surprised to see three Shinigami there. Identifying Seree was easy enough, her hair gave her away from great distance, but the others she didn't recognize at first.

"Ichigo, go check on Seree." She looked around frantically. "Yaso!"

She appeared in a blur of shunpo next to he badly wounded Yaso. His uniform was covered in blood, but upon close examination, she realized the wounds were closed.

"Yaso! Are you okay? Wake up!"

She gave Yaso a hard slap, and with a couple of disoriented blinks he woke up.

"I... I'm vewy hurt, pyon..."

"P-... Pyon?"

She opened her eyes wide in surprise, and a moment later her look changed to that of sudden understanding. She turned around to look at the Shinigami she hadn't been able to identify. One was Nemu, and the other, laying in a pool of blood and holding a broken Zanpakutō...

"Shit, Kisuke was right. Ichigo!" She called as she ran towards the real Yaso. "How is she?"

"Not good Yoruichi-san!"

"Take her and Nemu to Orihime, I'll take Yaso back to the shop, hurry!"

"What about the arrancar?"

"We'll worry about that later!"

After some emergency first aid, they rushed back as fast as they could carrying two people each.

"Where do you think that Daruma got to?"

"I don't know. Hueco Mundo probably."

"What about Soul Society?"

"They should be fine, without Katsutoshi I doubt Daruma can be a problem."

"Oh yeah, where did that guy go?"

Yoruichi remembered what she thought had seen, Daruma disappearing while carrying a body. Could have been Katsutoshi. She didn't say anything.

Back in Soul Society, Isane and Hisagi were still having a hard fight with Gundan.

"How many is that?" Hisagi asked.

"Twenty-three left." Isane answered, in between fast and heavy breaths.

She tried to stand up, but her legs gave under her, and would have fallen to the ground face first if Hisagi hadn't grabbed her. She winced in pain, and he felt the familiar warmth of freshly drawn blood soaking her clothes.

"Isane, that's enough. I'll finish this."

"I..." She huffed. "I can still..."

"Just stay here."

Hisagi started murmuring an incantation, and a few moments later Isane disappeared from view, as an illusory barrier hid her presence from view.

"Okay big guy, you and me." Hisagi said, raising one of Kazeshini's blades and pointing it at Gundan.

They looked at each other for a few moments, but they were interrupted when a sudden fluctuation of reiatsu started emanating again from the dimensional barrier. Unlike previous times, this wasn't particularly strong, it merely changed and varied its intensity very wildly. After a few seconds, a hope opened in the sky, and something rather strange dropped from it. The only way Hisagi could describe it was a big pile of metallic junk.

"What the... What is that?"

To his surprise, a glowing barrier much like the ones covering the Seireitei shot from the pile and connected to the one that had cut the second division's grounds in half. The surge of reiatsu made clear that whoever was hiding under that pile of junk was controlling the barriers themselves.

_The reiatsu feels different though. I wonder..._

His attention was diverted when the pile started to move, crawling around as if the individual pieces were alive. As soon as they touched Gundan's feet, they suddenly jumped up and enveloped him. There was a cacophony of screams coming from the fused arrancar, and very disagreeable crunching sounds as the pile of junk _ate_ Gundan.

_Eaten by a pile of junk, what the heck's going on here._

Hisagi kept his distance but slowly moved away from Isane's position, describing a wide circle. Whatever that thing was, if all those pieces could crawl around like that they could easily bump into the barrier he had set, and probably break it too if they could eat that arrancar so easily.

To his surprise, the pile instead started gathering into several individual piles, until it formed a dozen grotesque statues. Animated statues, rather.

"Who are you?" He finally asked.

"Ahhh, that felt good." One of the strange statues spoke, with a dull, metallic voice. "Nothing like a good meal to recover one's strength."

Several of the statues turned to Hisagi, and he raised his guard, holding both of Kazeshini's blades.

"I said, who are you." He tried a second time.

"Daruma is my name, loyal servant of Aizen-sama." There was a short pause. "Judging by your reaction, the latter does not surprise you."

"Not in the slightest, no."

"It does surprise _me _that you were here, fighting this... What was his name again?"

"Gundan?"

"Is that what he called himself? How droll. I would have expected him to defeat a Shinigami like you, who's not even a captain."

"Lieutenant of the 9th Division, Hisagi Shūhei."

"I see. Well, Lieutenant, I'm afraid I have more important matters to attend to."

"You mean like freeing Aizen?"

"How astute. Of course, I should have expected Katsutoshi to blunder around and make our objectives obvious to everyone."

"Yeah, that." Hisagi narrowed his gaze." I thought those barriers were his."

"Oh, they _were._ But as I said, I don't have time to explain. Much less to someone who's about to die."

The statue raised its arms to shoulder height and pointing forward, with palms facing down, and started moving its grotesque fingers. At that moment, two of the other statues moved at incredible speed and attacked Hisagi. He dodged both attacks by pushing forward, and throwing one of Kazeshini's blade at the controlling statue. It shattered into a million pieces with barely any resistance, only to reform itself a few moments later.

_What the..._

"Not good enough!"

Hisagi divided his attention for an instant trying to identify the source of the voice, which was enough for one of the statues to successfully attack him from behind. The was a splash of blood as it made a cut across his back, forcing him to dodge out of the way awkwardly with shunpo.

_Shit, they're too fast._

"Hadō thirty-one, Red Fire Cannon!"

The spell crashed on the statue that was manipulating the others, and just like before, it crumbled away and reformed without incident, while at that moment another statue seemed to assume control of the party. Hisagi moved away immediately, defending himself with both blades and crumbling another three of the statues, but fighting desperately to keep the superior numbers away. He realized only about half of the statues attacked, the rest stayed back.

_It must have something to do with how he's moving between statues. No, they way he controls them, they're more like marionettes. Well, let's try something else then..._

Hisagi threw Kazeshini forward, crashing into one of the idle marionettes, and quicky moved to one side, directing his Zanpakutō to describe an arc and destroy another one. He was about to recover the blade when one of the marionettes made an attack, looking for the vulnerable moment in between his series of movements. He was forced to pull back and let the blade pass harmlessly, then took it back by redirecting it from the chain.

From the outside, the fight was starting to look rather messy. Hisagi was desperately trying to hit the one he assumed was the only live marionette, and for that he had to fight right in the middle of the mob of enemies. The only attacks he could make in between dodging the enemy, and the flying debris that from time to time shot from one of the marionettes he slashed, were easily predictable throws of Kazeshini.

After several minutes, Hisagi used a shunpo to give himself a few meters of breathing space. He had several cuts and could hardly stand upright, the worst being the one across his back and a deep wound on his left leg. He was holding the two blades of Kazeshini, but the chain was messily all over the place.

"It is over, Lieutenant." Daruma said.

"Yes, yes it is." Hisagi replied. He suddenly threw both ends of Kazeshini in opposite directions, and as he did, the chain tensed itself, and sprung the carefully laid out trap he had made with his Zanpakutō's chain, wrapping it around all the statues in a powerful grip.

"What? How did you-?"

Hisagi didn't explain, or even let Daruma finish. He grabbed the chain and, pouring all his reiatsu through it, he finished the incantation he had been muttering.

"Hadō eleven, Bound Lightning!"

On the far side of the battle, the barrier Hisagi had set up was shattered as Isane reached out and grabbed the other end of the chain.

"Hadō eleven, Bound Lightning!" She echoed.

Daruma screamed in pain as both kidō and reiatsu flowed through Kazeshini and hit all of his marionettes, shattering every single one of them and exposing him under one of them. Barely a second after the fragments hit the ground, they started to move again.

"You think... You can stop me with-"

He was interrupted when something passed at extremely high speed by him, and in that moment a person appeared in a blur of shunpo between Daruma and Hisagi. Small, female, two long braids on the back, a Captain's haori and a strange glove with a stinger on one finher on her right hand. Hisagi was the first one to talk.

"Captain Suì-Fēng!"

"Yo!" She smirked. "Nice opening you made there."

"What's..."

Daruma couldn't finish his question. The last thing he saw was two strange butterfly-shaped crests growing on his body.

Then there was nothing.

"Captain... When did you..."

"Just after that... What was his name again?"

"Daruma."

"Yeah, Daruma. Just after he appeared. The barriers became weaker, so I finally could move through them with my Shunkō."

Hisagi noticed she was looking at something to his side, so he turned and saw Isane had collapsed, still holding onto the chain of Kazeshini.

"Isane!"

"You two are done here, get her back to her division and go take care of yours." She said, giving her back to them and walking towards the Maggots' Nest entrance. Hisagi looked at her, then noticed the remaining barriers were disappearing quickly.

_Yeah, I should take Isane to the Relief Station._

He allowed himself a small smile. Captain Suì-Fēng had told him explicitly to send Isane back to her division.

_She never drops the act.  
><em>


	57. Chapter 57

When Yaso came to, he was so disoriented that for several seconds all he could do was stare at the unfamiliar ceiling. He hurt all over, and his head wasn't able to make any coherent thoughts past his realization of being awake, and feeling he was in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar place.

When the memories suddenly hit him, he almost snapped upright, if he hadn't been stopped by the sharp pain and sudden dizziness. The room seemed very clean and simple, some hospital perhaps. It didn't look much like the hospitals he had visited before, it looked more like an old house that had been fit for that new purpose.

He heard a soft moan. Looking down, he realized that there was someone sitting by his bed, laying forward and resting her head on her arms on the side of his bed. The multicolored hair was the only clue he really needed. The black clothes of the Shinigami would have helped, but were unnecessary.

He placed his hand on her head and caressed her hair gently. She moaned softly and stirred, and a few moments later she looked up with very sleepy eyes.

"Yaso..." She murmured.

"Good morning, sleepyhead."

She smiled, and just like Yaso had done, she suddenly snapped, when she realized he was awake.

"Yaso!"

She had shouted in a mix of surprise and relief, and without saying anything else she practically jumped at him, hugging him in a tight embrace that made him wince in pain.

"You're... You're awake... Yaso..."

"Yes." He embraced her back, as her voice faltered under the strain of tears.

After a few seconds, she snapped back and looked at him up and down with a very big smile on her face and still watery eyes.

"I'm so relieved! How are you feeling? Do you still hurt? You're okay? Captain Unohana.. Wait! Captain! I have to tell her!" She stood up and rushed towards the door. "Captain Unohanaaaaa!"

Yaso looked at the energetic girl fire all the questions and leave the room with half a smile. The Seree he knew all right. She hadn't given him a chance to say he was happy to see she was okay too. While Seree continued to search for her Captain with very loud shouts, Yaso looked around and saw his Zanpakutō on a chair next to his bed. He reached out, caressed the tsuka, and grabbed it, placing it on his lap.

_How do I do this again..._

A few seconds later he felt something familiarly soft on his back. He opened his eyes and saw he was laying down on the endless cloverfield of his inner world. And flying static above his face, looking down at him, was Katsumushimiko.

"Hello Tonbo-chan."

"Good morning." She smiled, widely. "You're okay. I'm so glad."

"You're okay too. I felt you shattering when we stabbed that freaking spider thing."

"Of course! Now that you believe in me, now I can heal if I'm hurt."

"Really? That's great, I'm glad to hear that."

"Yes! I was more worried about you, but that Unohana woman... Oh, speak of the devil." She looked up to the sky. "You have visitors."

"You can tell what's going on outside?"

"Of course! Anyway, we can talk later, you better not make them wait. And thank her for me, will you?"

"Eh... Sure..."

Yaso opened his eyes and saw Seree sitting by his bed, looking down and with a very red face, and standing next to the end of his bed was a woman he didn't know. She had blue eyes and black hair held in a braid at her front, she was quite beautiful, and had an air of elegance Yaso found very captivating.

"Good morning. I hope we aren't interrupting anything important." She said, with a calm and well controlled voice.

"Ah, no, it's okay, um..."

"This is Captain Unohana." Seree said, refusing to look up, and speaking in a very soft voice. "She's my Captain and the head of the Fourth Division of the Gotei 13."

"Ah, it's a pleasure, Unohana-san." Yaso looked at Seree. "Seree? Is there anything wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing, I just reminded Seree-chan that this is a hospital, and as such she should keep noise to the minimum." Unohana replied, smiling. "How are you feeling, Itou-san?"

"Not too bad actually. I still hurt all over, but all things considered... I believe I am in your debt, Unohaha-san."

"Ara, not at all, this is what we do in my Fourth Division."

"I see." Yaso smiled. "Tonbo-chan asked me to convey her gratitude too."

"She's such a nice Zanpakutō. The poor dear was so worried about you."

"Wait, you spoke with her?" Yaso asked, very surprised.

"Yes. Her power was blocking all the healing kidō; she was most distressed about it, but she couldn't help it. We had a small talk then."

"Uh..." Yaso looked like he didn't quite know what to say.

"I..." Seree started speaking, and her voice trembled slightly. "I thought we wouldn't be able to save you. I... I was hurt, but... I couldn't heal you anyway. Nobody could. Kuchiki-dono brought you here, and... I thought it was too late..."

"Now, now, Seree-chan, it's okay. Itou-san is fine now. And you shouldn't be around so much like that, you're still recuperating too."

Unohana looked at Yaso reach out and take Seree's hand with his, and discreetly made her way out of the room. Her Fourth Division had her hands full with all the wounded from the battles they had endured, not to talk about all the property damage that her division would have to clear before rebuilding could take place, all while her own Lieutenant was still convalescent.

She looked at the closed door of the room she had just left, and smiled.

_It's not a bad way to start the day._

終わり

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

And that's it my dear reader, The End. Whew! It ended up hitting the 100k mark, first story of this length I "publish" anywhere, FFnet or not. It was supposed to be the first story I put here, but I got a bit sidetracked with the Iron Chef Seireitei halfway through and finished that one first. O:-)

What can I say? It's been fun to write, and quite a learning experience too. Half of the story was written during the summer NaNoWriMo, where the challenge is to write 50,000 words in one month, which is why I was updating practically daily during August. Downside? Typos and little mistakes kept creeping in for me to fix when I finally spotted them after, say, a couple of days and a dozen reads (no, really!). Upside? Publishing and seeing that you guys were indeed reading it was an excellent motivator. Those little e-mails saying "Someone has your story on Alert!" and "This is now one of ***'s Favourite Stories!" always made my day.

So if you made it this far, congratulations! If you loved it? Tell your friends! If you hated it? Tell your enemies! If you thought "meh"? Tell someone with OCD and drive them to madness with all the little inconsistencies! Thanks for the reads, and the reviews, and special thanks for our regular reviewer BleachBoy95 ;)

My next project? A Bleach and Fallout Crossover (no, really!). If you drop us a note on how you liked it (Great, horrible, so average it's meh, doesn't matter!) I'd be grateful, but regardless, I thank you once again for being my audience for this story.

Ta ta!

L.-


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